Gaganyaan is India's first crewed orbital spacecraft. The three-person spaceship will improve rendezvous and docking. 

 

• ISRO's first crewed mission will orbit Earth at 400 km altitude with a two- or three-person crew. December 2021 was ISRO's LVM3's first crewed mission. Lockdown delayed this till 2024.

 

• This HAL-built crew module made its first unmanned flight on 18 December 2014.

 

• May 2019 saw the crew module design.

 

• DRDO will provide space-grade food, crew healthcare, radiation measurement and protection, crew module parachutes, and fire suppression equipment.

 

• On 11 June 2020, India's COVID-19 pandemic delayed the first uncrewed Gaganyaan launch but not the crewed launch.

 

• ISRO chairman S. Somanath announced on 30 June 2022 that safety concerns will postpone the first crewed voyage until at least 2024.

 

On Tuesday, the Gaganyaan crew module underwent its initial recovery tests conducted by the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) and the Indian Navy. The tests were carried out in Kochi at the Navy's Water Survival Test Facility (WSTF).

 

The exercises were a part of preparing for the Gaganyaan mission's crew module recovery operations, which will take place in Indian waters with the help of Indian government agencies and be overseen by the Indian Navy, according to the space agency.

 

The testing was conducted using a Crew Module Recovery Model (CMRM), which simulates the mass, the centre of gravity, exterior dimensions, and externals of the actual Crew Module upon touchdown.

 

The safe recovery of the crew must be achieved in the shortest amount of time possible because it is the last task that must be completed for any successful human mission.

 

The recovery trials will be conducted initially in a controlled pool, then in a harbour and on open water. At WSTF, various stages of recovery trials, from the Crew Module's recovery to the flight crew's training, are planned.

 

Thus, several trials of recovery strategies for various scenarios are needed. Finalize the SoP for Crew and Crew Module recovery. ISRO said recovery experiments would begin in a controlled pool, then in a harbour and the open sea.

 

ISRO conducted closed-pool Crew Module recovery trials recently. WSTF plans to recover the Crew Module and train flight crews.

 

The Indian Navy's state-of-the-art WSTF at Kochi trains airmen to escape a ditched aircraft under simulated conditions and disaster scenarios. WSTF replicates day/night, sea state, and environmental variables.

 

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These experiments validate the SoP and train recovery and flight crews. They help recover accessories. ISRO noted that the recovery team/trainers' feedback improves the recovery operations SoP, designs recovery accessories, and completes the training plan.

 

The Gaganyaan project will launch a three-person crew into a 400-km orbit for three days and return them safely to Earth by landing in Indian seawater.

 

Gaganyaan's maiden uncrewed flight is scheduled during 2023–2024. The crew and humanoid Vyom Mitra will follow.