Gaganyaan, India's first-ever human spaceflight mission, is anticipated to launch by 2024, said Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology. The mission was scheduled to launch in 2022 but has been delayed by two years; he attributed the delay in the launch to COVID-19.
Singh continued, "The COVID-19 pandemic had a toll on the training of astronauts in Russia as well as India," according to a report by The weather channel.
Four candidates have been chosen by the Indian Air Force to participate in the human space flight programme, the team has received introductory training for the mission.
The Gaganyaan project aims to show off the country's potential to conduct human space travel missions to low earth orbit (LEO).
Two unmanned missions and one human mission for this programme have received approval from the Indian government, the estimated cost of the Gangayaan is expected to be 9,023 crore rupees.
Through the exchange of challenging and peaceful objectives, it is thought that India's mission will help to develop international alliances and international security. A successful human spaceflight programme can be used as an effective tool for foreign policy.
The human-rated launch vehicle, crew escape mechanisms, habitable orbital module, life support systems, crew selection, training, and related crew management tasks are the primary new technologies needed for the Gaganyaan programme.
The spacecraft will be launched to a height of 15 kilometres, where space experts will simulate an abort situation to ensure that the crew capsule would return to Earth using a parachute.
In order to refine the system, a similar abort scenario will be performed in the Gaganyan crew's capsule during the second orbital test at a greater altitude.
ISRO intends to concentrate on acquiring the capability for a continuous human presence in space after Gaganyaan.
The launch of the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission by ISRO is scheduled for 2023. The lunar mission had two launch windows in February and July 2023, according to officials.
