Union Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh interacted with the media and briefed them about “2023 Science Vision” on the first day of New Year 2023. During the interaction, he announced that ‘Gaganyaan’ is all set to be launched in 2024.

While speaking to the media, the Minister highlighted India’s achievements in the field of Science and Technology and that’s why India’s first self-sufficient Gaganyaan will enter space in 2024. He also shed light on the launchings and experiments of Gaganyaan.

”The idea of taking forward the ‘Gaganyaan’ program was in 2022 itself but due to Covid-19 it was delayed. In the next year (2024), there will be two preliminary launchings, the first launch will be unmanned, this experiment will be done to mark the routes because if the ‘Gaganyaan’ rocket goes into space then it should also return safely to the same way (sic),” said Union MoS Dr. Jitendra Singh.

He further added that in the other experiment also there will be no human, instead, a robot will be there as a human replica. Humans will be sent to space in the third experiment only when the first two experiments assure that the programme is completely ready.

The Gaganyaan Project

The Gaganyaan project aims to demonstrate human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three people into a 400-kilometre orbit for a three-day mission and safely returning them to Earth by landing in Indian sea waters.

The primary mandate of leading ISRO’s project Gaganyaan has been given to Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC). The HSFC is spearheading the project through coordinated efforts and focus on all the activities that are carried out in other ISRO centres, research labs in India, Indian academia and Industries towards accomplishing the mission.

The Gaganyaan mission requires the development of many critical technologies for it to be successful. The technologies include a human-rated launch vehicle capable of safely transporting crew to space, a Life Support System capable of providing an earth-like environment to crew in space, crew emergency escape provision, and evolving crew management aspects for crew training, recovery, and rehabilitation.

Gaganyaan Crew Members’ Training

The training of the crew members of the Gaganyaan mission will be conducted at the Astronaut Training Facility established in Bengaluru. The facility offers classroom training, fitness training, simulator training, and flight suit training.

The training modules at Astronaut Training Facility cover academic courses, Gaganyaan Flight Systems, Micro-gravity familiarization through Parabolic Flights, Aero-medical training, Recovery and Survival training, mastering of Flight Procedures and training on Crew Training Simulators. Aeromedical training, Periodical flying practice and Yoga are also included as part of the training.

Showcasing India’s steadfast steps in achieving self-reliance in the Space domain, Gaganyaan would be the nation’s first human space flight. According to Union MoS Dr. Jitendra Singh, the launching of Gaganyaan in 2024 will be a historic initiative.

While speaking to the media, the Minister also said that Science, Technology and Innovation will define India@100 in 2047. Along with the progress of project Gaganyaan, India has mapped out plans for various projects and initiatives concerned with Science and Technology. In 2023, ISRO will also focus on Scientific Exploration Missions and Technology Demonstration Missions. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has also outlined its focus to deliver about 21.00 lakh pieces of equipment for the Election Commission of India.