Gaganyaan
Gaganyaan ([ɡəɡənəjɑːnə];ⓘ from Sanskrit: gagana, "celestial" and yāna, "craft, vehicle") is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The spacecraft is being designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capabilities. In its maiden crewed mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s largely autonomous 5.3-metric ton capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 km altitude for up to seven days with a two- or three-person crew on board. The first crewed mission was originally planned to be launched on ISRO's HLVM3 rocket in December 2021. As of October 2023, it is expected to be launched by 2025.
The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)-manufactured crew module underwent its first uncrewed experimental flight on December 18, 2014. As of May 2019, design of the crew module has been completed. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will provide support for critical human-centric systems and technologies such as space-grade food, crew healthcare, radiation measurement and protection, parachutes for the safe recovery of the crew module, and the fire suppression system.
On June 11, 2020, it was announced that the first uncrewed Gaganyaan launch would be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The overall timeline for crewed launches was expected to remain unaffected. ISRO chairman S. Somanath announced in 2022 that the first crewed mission would not take place until 2024 at the earliest because of safety concerns.
The Gaganyaan Mission will be led by V. R. Lalithambika, the former Director of the Directorate of the Human Spaceflight Programme with ISRO Chairman S Somnath and S. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. Imtiaz Ali Khan superseded V. R. Lalithambika as the Director of the Directorate of Human Spaceflight Programme.