ISRO will take all precautions before manned Gaganyaan mission: Somanath

ISRO Chairman S. Somanath discusses Gaganyaan mission precautions, upcoming missions, and future space exploration projects.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S. Somanath said on Friday (September 20, 2024) that the space agency will take all precautions by carrying out a sufficient number of tests before the manned Gaganyaan mission is launched.

Speaking to reporters on the final day of the Bengaluru Space Expo, Mr. Somanath said that the ISRO does not want a situation like that of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which recently returned to Earth without the astronauts.

He said that the ISRO will conduct the first uncrewed mission by the end of this year, followed by three more missions before the manned space flight.

“If all three missions go well then we will have the manned mission. We have not put a very tight timeline. I don’t want to end up like what happened with Boeing. We should be very, very careful, we should be very pessimistic, we should be working in such a manner that it can go wrong. That type of approach is important for us to make sure that the mission finally becomes successful,” Mr. Somanath said.  

He added that the launch of the first uncrewed mission will most likely take place by December and that the rocket has already reached ISRO’s spaceport in Sriharikota where final integration will take place.

The Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members to an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bringing them back safely to earth by landing in Indian sea waters.

The ISRO Chairman also spoke about Chandrayaan-4, Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM), Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), and the building of the first unit of the Bharatiya Anatriksh Station, which were approved by the Union Cabinet on September 18.