Bengaluru: ‘Gaganyaan’, India’s first human space flight mission is likely to be delayed by one year on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials, The New Indian Express (TNIE) reported quoting PTI.
Two uncrewed missions were to be undertaken prior to the manned mission. The unmanned missions were slated for launch in December 2020 and July 2021, and the first manned mission was scheduled in December 2021.
“That will be delayed because of COVID,” ISRO Chairman, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, told PTI.
“We are targeting for sometime next year-end or the subsequent year,” he said on the expected time-line for the first of the two proposed uncrewed missions, the report added.
The objective of the Gaganyaan project is to demonstrate human space flight capability to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with three crew members in orbit and to safely recover them after the mission.
