2 unmanned missions next year
New Delhi, Dec. 9: India will launch two unmanned missions next year before the human spaceflight programme ‘Gaganyaan’, which is planned for 2022-end, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Thursday.
Sharing the status of other space projects during the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Singh said the Venus Mission is planned for 2022, the Solar Mission for 2022-23 and that of the Space Station by 2030.
The minister of state in the department of space said that space projects have been delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In the next year, we are going to have two unmanned missions before flying the Gaganyaan'. That is also in the planning. That is usually the SoP (standard operating procedure) which is followed. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it got delayed,” he said.
In the beginning of next year, possibly, India will first launch unmanned missions ahead of ‘Gaganyaan’, which is towards the end of 2022, he said, adding that it would be accompanied by robots that have been named as ‘Vayumitra’.
“Following that, we will possibly in 2023 have
Gaganyaan, which will undoubtedly place India in the elite club of nations, being the fourth after the United States, China and Russia,” he added.
“The design of all systems of ‘Gaganyaan’ has been completed. Realisation of various systems are in different stages of progress. Ground qualification tests of human rated launch vehicle propulsion stages have been already commenced and successfully progressing,” the minister said in a separate written reply.
He said the major missions, vis-a-vis test vehicle flight for validation of crew escape system performance and the first uncrewed mission of Gaganyaan (G1), are scheduled during the beginning of the second half of 2022.
This will be followed by the second un-crewed mission and first crewed mission, Singh said.
The minister said an astronaut training facility is being established at Bengaluru and it is in an advanced stage of completion.
“Basic aeromedical training and flying practice have been completed as part of Indian leg of training, he said.