India’s First Manned Space Mission In 40 Months

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the ambitious Gaganyaan programme that will carry Indians to a space mission for up to seven days. The project will cost Rs 10,000 crore and make India the fourth nation in the world to have achieved the feat.

Here’s a lowdown about the entire mission:

1. The first manned flight will take off in 40 months. The low earth orbit mission will range from one orbital period to a maximum of seven days.

2. A human rated GSLV Mk-lll will be used to carry the orbital module which will have necessary provisions for sustaining a 3-member crew for the duration of the mission.

3. The Indian Space Research Organisaiton (ISRO) will collaborate extensively with National agencies, laboratories, academia and industry to accomplish the Gaganyaan Programme objectives.

4. The necessary infrastructure for crew training, realisation of flight systems and ground infrastructure will be established to support the Gaganyaan Programme.

5. In all, two unmanned flights and one manned flight will be undertaken as part of Gaganyaan Programme.

6. The programme is expected to generate employment and train human resources in advanced technologies. It will inspire large number of young students to take up science and technology careers for national development.

7. Human spaceflight programme will provide a unique micro-gravity platform in space for conducting experiments and test bed for future technologies.

8. Human Spaceflight capability will enable India to participate as a collaborating partner in future Global space exploration initiatives with long term national benefits.

9. ISRO has developed and demonstrated most of the baseline technologies essential for undertaking human spaceflight mission.

10.The space agency has completed the development of launch vehicle GSLV Mk-lll which has the necessary payload capability to launch a 3-member crew module in low earth orbit. ISRO has also tested the crew escape system which is an essential technology for human space flight