NEW DELHI: Three Indians who will be chosen for the country’s first human space flight programme “will reach space within 16 minutes of the launch from Sriharikota”. They will spend “five to seven days in the low-earth orbit before the crew module makes a “splashdown in the Arabian Sea off the Gujarat coast”, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chariman K Sivan said here on Tuesday. He said “Isro will certainly launch the Gaganyaan by 2022”, the deadline set by PM Narendra Modi during his recent I-Day speech.
Making a detailed presentation here, Sivan, accompanied by minister of state for atomic energy and space Jitendra Singh, said, “A crew module carrying three Indians will be attached with a service module. Together, these two modules will comprise the orbital module that will be integrated with an advanced GSLV Mk III rocket. The rocket will take the crew to the low-earth orbit (300-400 km) where they will perform micro-gravity and other scientific experiments for a week.”
For the return journey, Sivan said, “The orbital module will reorient itself. The crew and service modules will get separated at 120 km altitude. The crew module will apply aerobrake to reduce speed and parachutes will open just before the splashdown in the Arabian Sea off Gujarat. The return journey will take 36 minutes. In case of a technical problem, the module can land in the Bay of Bengal as a back-up.” He said, “The module will be the size of a small cubicle (3.4 m diametre) with a mass of 7 tonnes.” The Isro chief said the manned mission, whose preparation started way back in 2004, “will provide employment to 15,000 people”.
On mission preparations, Sivan said, “Isro will conduct the first unmanned test-flight within 30 months. The second unmanned test in 36 months. Finally, the first human spaceflight in 40 months. Most of the critical technologies needed for the mission like crew escape system have already been developed.”