ISRO successfully carries test flight of `Gaganyaan’
New Delhi: The Isro on Saturady successfully conducted the test flight of Gaganyaan from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota at 10 am.
“Mission Gaganyaan TV D1 Test Flight is accomplished. Crew Escape System performed as intended. Mission Gaganyaan gets off on a successful note,” Isro said.
This was the first test flight of the ambitious Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, which Isro successfully conducted with the lifting off of the Test Vehicle (TV-D1), a single-stage liquid rocket. Today’s success demonstrated the functioning of the Crew Escape System, which would be vital for the safety of Indian astronauts.
Additionally, the test flight aimed at demonstrating India’s ability for human spaceflight by sending a crew of three people into a 400-kilometre orbit for a three-day mission, and ensuring their safe return by landing in the Indian Ocean. This is a part of India’s plan to send the country’s first astronauts, currently under training.
Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday to hail the successful test flight of the Gaganyaan Mission conducted by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). He wrote that the launch takes India “one step closer” to its first human space flight programme.
“My besh wishes to our scientists at Isro,” he tweeted.