Mission Gaganyaan: ISRO gets back to work

The Indian human spaceflight programme has the potential to create an all-new aerospace ecosystem for setting up associated industries, boosting thousands of MSMEs in the sector and creating at least 15,000 jobs for Indian youth related to the domain. An in-depth report

- AMARTYA SINHA

0n August 15, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised the world by announcing an ambitious national mission to send an Indian vyomanaut into space, onboard an endogenously-developed spacecraft launched into orbit by using an Indian rocket lifting off from an Indian spaceport. If successful, the mission code-named- 'Gaganyaan-1, is supposed to place India in the elite league of three other superpower nations- the United States of America, Russia and China- which have developed such technological capabilities for launching such highly complex missions. While the years- 2021 and 2022 were dampeners concerning the Covid-19 pandemic affecting ongoing preparations for the Gaganyaan mission, the new year- 2023 has brought new rays of hope with ISRO scientists and engineers having a serious relook at the delays caused in the human spaceflight programme.

The Union Minister of Science & Technology- Dr Jitendra Singh said in December 2022 that India's maiden human spaceflight- Gaganyaan, is targeted to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The path towards heavy-lift capability