Gaganyaan mission: 90% development work complete; three uncrewed mission to be accomplished

Ninety per cent of the development work of Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s) Gaganyaan mission has been completed. ISRO Chairman V Narayanan confirmed the progress on Thursday, underlining the comprehensive efforts required for India’s first human spaceflight initiative. The mission continues to advance through critical technology development, including human-rating the launch rocket, developing the orbital module, and establishing environmental control and safety systems.

Narayanan emphasised the multi-faceted approach, stating, "The Gaganyaan mission is going very well. In fact, when you talk about the Gaganyaan mission, a lot of technology development has to take place, you are aware — the rocket has to be human-rated, the orbital module has to be developed, and the environmental control safety system has to be developed. Then coming to the crew escape system, parachute system and then, of course, human-centric products."

ISRO has outlined the immediate next steps, which include conducting three uncrewed missions before the crewed spaceflight targeted for early 2027. Narayanan stated, "Now three uncrewed missions have to be accomplished before going for the crewed mission and we are working towards it. In the first uncrewed mission, Vyommitra is going to fly and we are working towards that to accomplish the crewed mission by the beginning of 2027."

A major technical achievement was recorded on August 24, when the first integrated air drop test for the Gaganyaan programme was completed at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The test validated the end-to-end performance of the parachute-based deceleration system, a critical component for the safe return of the crew module.

Providing details of the test, the ISRO Chairman explained, "For the Gaganyaan programme, the integrated air drop test — because when the entire module returns in the final phase almost nine parachutes have to work in a synchronised way for the proper splashdown — so we lifted off a simulated module using a helicopter to a height of around three kilometres above the Earth. Using nine parachutes, it was successfully splashed down."

ISRO has reiterated that the Gaganyaan mission remains on track, with Narayanan stating, "The Gaganyaan mission is progressing steadily with nearly 90 per cent of the development work being completed, ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said on Thursday."