ISRO to launch first development flight of test vehicle on Oct 21 morning

ISRO on Monday said it would commence unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission with the launch of a test vehicle between 7 am and 9 am on October 21 from Sriharikota spaceport to demonstrate the performance of the crew escape systemIn a message on social media platform X the national space agency headquartered said Mission Gaganyaan The TVD1 test flight is scheduled for October 21 2023 between 7 am and 9 am from SDSCSHAR SriharikotaISRO Chairman S Somanath on Saturday told reporters three more test vehicle missions would be launched under the Gaganyaan programme after the TVD1 test flight on October 21The Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of ISROs human spaceflight capability by launching a human crew to an orbit of 400 km and bringing them safely back to earth by landing in Indian sea watersThe Test Vehicle Development Flight TVD1 is aimed at testing the crew module CM that will carry Indian astronauts during the human spaceflight late next yearThe TVD1 test flight involves launching the unmanned crew module to outer space bringing it back to earth and recovering it after touchdown in the Bay of BengalThe first test vehicle flight of the Gaganyaan mission will be conducted on October 21 After that we have planned for three more test missions D2 D3 D4 We will hold thorough tests during the test flight sequence Somanath who is also the secretary Department of Space had told reporters in RameswaramAccording to ISRO the test vehicle is a singlestage liquid rocket developed for this abort mission The payloads consist of the Crew Module CM and Crew Escape System CES with their fastacting solid motors along with CM fairing CMF and Interface AdaptersThe Crew Escape System with Crew Module will be separated from the Test Vehicle at an altitude of about 17 km Subsequently the abort sequence will be executed autonomously commencing with the separation of the CES and deployment of the series of parachutes finally culminating in the safe touchdown of CM in the sea about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota ISRO saidThe crew module is where the astronauts will be contained in a pressurised Earthlike atmospheric condition during the Gaganyaan mission The CM for the Gaganyaan mission is under different stages of developmentFor the TVD1 the CM is an unpressurised version that has completed its integration and testingWith its complete set of parachutes recovery aids actuation systems and pyros pyrotechnic device used to separate spacecraft from rocket the avionics systems in CM are in a dual redundant mode configuration for navigation sequencing telemetry instrumentation and power The CM in this mission is extensively instrumented to capture the flight data for evaluation of the performance of various systems it saidThe crew module will be recovered after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal using a dedicated vessel and diving team from the Indian NavyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever