From launch preparations to astronaut training: Latest on Isro's Gaganyaan mission

India's ambitious human space mission is coming to a pivotal new stage, with the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) set to launch the Gaganyaan-1 (G1) mission in December.

Isro officials have assured IndiaToday.in that this historic mission, which is the first in a series of seminal unmanned test flights, will remain three days in orbit around Earth to test all the systems and procedures undergone to send Indian astronauts into space.

G1 mission marks a milestone for India's space programme when it will test the systems for safety and reliability to transport humans to space. "G1 is indispensable in testing our technologies under real space conditions. We will be testing life support, navigation, re-entry and other key parameters to safely send people to orbit and bring them back home," said the official.

The rocket vehicle, to be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, will fly around the world in a low-Earth orbit for nearly three days before returning in a controlled mission.

On board are sensors to gather vital information on how the vehicle performs against the stresses of launch, radiation, exposure to microgravity, and re-entry from the atmosphere—a dress rehearsal exercise for a future crewed mission.

DROP TEST AHEAD

Since the launch is planned in December, Isro is also planning to perform an integrated drop test of the crew module.

The test will simulate parachute-guided landing by letting the module drop to a specified altitude, increasing the accuracy of the recovery operation and confirming that all the landing systems function as intended.

Even though Isro has not made it official, a Notam has released speculating the possibility of Crew Module drop test.

ASTRONAUT TRAINING TO RESUM

Meanwhile, training of astronauts for Gaganyaan is also commencing. Indian Air Force pilot Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, one of the four officers selected to go on the first mission, will return to India this month after additional training at Axiom Space in the US.

The four-member team's crew training schedule will begin in October and Bengaluru's Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) is ready to complete a high-tech crew training simulator.

The simulator will improve mission readiness immensely by simulating launch, orbit, and re-entry conditions for cosmonauts.