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Isro Manned Mission
India has broadened the scope of the Gaganyaan mission and plans to carry out two crewed space flights by 2028, Parliament was informed on Thursday. According to the enhanced scope, the Gaganyaan programme will have eight missions -- two crewed and six uncrewed -- Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. Singh said the earlier Gaganyaan programme entailed one crewed mission and two uncrewed ones. The total funding for the programme has been enhanced to Rs 20,193 crore to address the programmatic requirements, according to the revised scope that includes new developments for the Bharatiya Antariksh Station and precursor missions, he said. The allocation also covers additional requirements to meet the ongoing Gaganyaan programme, he further said. The Gaganyaan project was announced in 2019 with the first manned space flight planned for 2022. Singh said the delay was due to the slow pace of work in the industry
A day after ISRO successfully carried out the ignition trial of the indigenous CE20 cryogenic engine, its Chairman and Secretary of Department of Space V Narayanan on Saturday said that the test would be advantageous to missions. The Chairman also said there were no glitches as reported in the media in ISRO's first Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission. "We want to restart the cryogenic stage in the flight for mission advantages. So, we recently carried out a test towards that," Narayanan told PTI on the sidelines of the 15th Biennial Edition of Aero India International Seminar 2025, held in Bengaluru. On February 7, ISRO successfully carried out the ignition trial of the indigenous CE20 cryogenic engine powering the upper stage of LVM3, with a multi-element igniter under vacuum conditions, which simulates the engine ignition in the vacuum condition of space. This test was carried out in the High-Altitude Test Facility at ISRO Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri, Tamil ...
Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of ISRO has dispatched the Crew Module for the first uncrewed mission of Gaganyaan (G1) after successfully completing the integration of the liquid propulsion system, the space agency said on Wednesday. Gaganyaan will be ISRO's first attempt towards acquiring human spaceflight capabilities. Before sending the crew, the ISRO is planning to send uncrewed mission to the space under its Gaganyaan project. On 21 January 2025, the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) of ISRO dispatched the Crew Module for the first uncrewed mission of Gaganyaan (G1), after successfully completing the integration of the liquid propulsion system, ISRO said in a statement. LPSC, Bengaluru has dispatched the module to Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, officials said. According to the space agency, the Crew Module Propulsion System (CMPS) is a bi-propellant based Reaction Control System (RCS) and is meant for precise three axis control namely Pitch, Yaw and Roll, of
ISRO chairman V Narayanan on Saturday said the space-docking experiment (SpaDeX) of satellites was successful and the results will be useful for multiple purposes, including future missions like Chandrayaan 4, Gaganyaan and India's space station. Narayanan, who arrived in Kerala after the successful space-docking test, told reporters at the airport here that it was a team effort by the ISRO and the results of the test were being reviewed. "Right now the situation is that all the things are successfully docked and it is in space safely. Now we are studying all the results. My team is reviewing the results and we will take the proper decision at the proper time," he said. The scientist further said that the docking experiment would be useful for multiple purposes. Giving details, he said that it will be useful for the Chandrayaan 4 mission as two rockets will be used to carry to space the over 9,000 kg module that will subsequently land on the moon for sample collection. He said tha
India's SpaDeX mission, intended to develop and demonstrate technology required to dock and undock spacecraft in space, will be launched using PSLV-C60 on December 30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, ISRO said. On December 21, the launch vehicle was integrated and moved to the First Launch Pad, for further integration of satellites and launch preparations. ISRO has also put up the fast time-lapse video of the moving of PSLV-C60, which was fully integrated up to PS4 at the PIF facility for the first time, to the First Launch Pad, in its X account. On December 30, people can witness the launch live at the Launch View Gallery after registering for it. The registration started on Monday at 6 pm, ISRO said in its website. SpaDeX mission is a cost-effective technology demonstrator mission for the demonstration of 'in-space docking' using two small spacecraft launched by PSLV, ISRO said in an explainer on the subject. This technology is essential for India's space ambitions
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair have been selected for an upcoming Indo-US mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Friday. This has been done on the recommendation of the NASA-identified service provider Axiom Space Inc, sources in the ISRO told PTI. In an official release, the ISRO said its Human Space Flight Centre has entered into a space flight agreement with US' Axiom Space Inc, for its fourth mission to the ISS and a National Mission Assignment Board has "recommended two 'gaganyatris' (space travellers) --Group Captain Shukla (prime) and Group Captain Nair (backup)". "The assigned crewmembers will be finally approved to fly to the International Space Station by the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP). The recommended gaganyatris will commence their training for the mission from the first week of August 2024," ISRO said. During the mission, the 'gaganyatris'
Four astronauts headed to the International Space Station on Sunday where they will oversee the arrivals of two new rocketships during their half-year stint. SpaceX's Falcon rocket blasted off from Kennedy Space Centre, carrying NASA's Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps and Russia's Alexander Grebenkin. The astronauts should reach the orbiting lab on Tuesday. They will replace a crew from the US, Denmark, Japan and Russia, who have been there since August. When are you getting here already? space station commander Andreas Mogensen asked via X, formerly Twitter, after three days of delay due to high wind. There was almost another postponement Sunday night. A small crack in the seal of the SpaceX capsule's hatch prompted a last-minute flurry of reviews, but it was deemed safe for the whole mission. The new crew's six-month stay includes the arrival of two rocketships ordered by NASA. Boeing's new Starliner capsule with test pilots is due in late April. A month or tw
Advanced sensors of a payload on board India's maiden solar mission Aditya-L1 have successfully detected the impact of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), according to ISRO. The payload -- Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA) -- is an energy and mass analyser designed for in-situ measurements of solar wind electrons and ions in the low energy range, the space agency noted. It has two sensors: the Solar Wind Electron Energy Probe (SWEEP, measuring electrons in the energy range of 10 eV to 3 keV) and the Solar Wind Ion Composition Analyser (SWICAR, measuring ions in the energy range of 10 eV to 25 keV and mass range of 1-60 amu). The sensors are also equipped to measure the direction of arrival of solar wind particles. The data collected by PAPA, developed by the Space Physics Laboratory and Avionics Entity of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, revealed the occurrence of CME events, notably on December 15, 2023, and during February 10-11, 2024. "The CME on December 15, 2023, was a ..
ISRO has geared up to perform a crucial manoeuvre on Saturday to put Aditya-L1 spacecraft -- the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun -- into its final destination orbit, some 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. According to ISRO officials, the spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, about 1.5 million km from the Earth. The L1 point is about one per cent of the total distance between the Earth and the Sun. A satellite in a halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultations/eclipses, they said, adding, this will provide a greater advantage in observing solar activities and its effect on space weather in real time. "This manoeuvre (at around 4 pm on Saturday) will bind the Aditya-L1 to a halo orbit around L1. If we don't do this, there is a possibility that it will continue its journey, maybe towards the Sun," an ISRO official told PTI on Friday. Th
ISRO on Friday said that it has successfully flight-tested a fuel cell to assess its operation in space and to collect data to facilitate the design of systems for future missions. Powering missions with efficiency and emitting only water, these fuel cells are the future for power production in space habitats, the national space agency headquartered here said. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre/ISRO successfully tested a 100 W class Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell based Power System (FCPS) in its orbital platform POEM3, launched onboard PSLV-C58 on January 1. "The objective of the experiment was to assess Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel cell operation in space and to collect data to facilitate the design of systems for future missions," ISRO said in a statement. During the short duration test onboard POEM, 180 W power was generated from Hydrogen and Oxygen gases stored onboard in high pressure vessels. "It provided a wealth of data on the performance of various static and dynam