On Saturday, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced that it will begin testing its unmanned flight for its next space mission, Gaganyaan. According to X, preparations for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1) are now ongoing.
According to Isro, the Gaganyaan project aims to demonstrate human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three people into a 400-kilometer orbit for a three-day trip and safely returning them to Earth by landing in Indian sea waters.
"The ISRO will begin unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan mission." "Preparations are underway for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), which will demonstrate the performance of the Crew Escape System," ISRO announced on X.
The Isro LVM3 rocket, a heavy lift launcher, has been chosen as the launch vehicle for the Gaganyaan mission. It consists of three stages: solid, liquid, and cryogenic.
Mission Gaganyaan:
— ISRO (@isro) October 7, 2023
ISRO to commence unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan mission.
Preparations for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), which demonstrates the performance of the Crew Escape System, are underway.https://t.co/HSY0qfVDEH @indiannavy #Gaganyaan pic.twitter.com/XszSDEqs7w
Human Rated LVM3 (HLVM3) refers to all systems in LVM3 that have been re-configured to fulfill human rating requirements.
Isro explained the mission, saying that the first development flight Test Vehicle (TV-D1) is nearing completion. The Test Vehicle is a one-stage liquid rocket designed specifically for this abort mission. The payloads are the Crew Module (CM) and Crew Escape Systems (CES), both of which include fast-acting solid motors, as well as the CM fairing (CMF) and Interface Adapters. This flight will imitate the abort condition encountered during the Gaganyaan mission's ascending trajectory at a Mach number of 1.2.
"At an altitude of about 17 km, CES with CM will be separated from the Test Vehicle." Following that, the abort sequence will be completed autonomously, beginning with the separation of CES and the deployment of a series of parachutes, and concluding in the safe landing of CM in the sea, approximately 10 kilometers off the coast of Sriharikota," Isro explained in an explanatory note.
After integration, the Crew Module completed numerous electrical tests at ISRO's facility in Bengaluru, including an acoustic test, before being delivered to SDSC-SHAR on August 13th. It will be subjected to vibration tests and pre-integration with the Crew Escape System at SDSC before being finalized for integration with the Test Vehicle at the Launch Pad.
"This Test Vehicle mission with this CM is a significant milestone for the overall Gaganyaan program because it integrates a nearly-complete system for a flight test." The success of this test flight will pave the way for the remaining certification tests and unmanned missions that will lead to the first Gaganyaan mission with Indian astronauts," Isro added.
Isro announced two days ago that it intends to conduct an in-flight abort test of the crew escape system by the end of this month, utilizing a test vehicle produced as part of Gaganyaan.
According to Isro authorities, the launch of the test vehicle TV-D1 this month will be the first of four Gaganyaan abort missions. It would be followed by the second test vehicle TV-D2 mission and Gaganyaan's first uncrewed mission (LVM3-G1).
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