Gaganyaan: Isro to conduct first abort mission by December

Gearing up for India’s first manned space mission Gaganyaan next year, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has its eyes set on the launch of the first abort test at the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota by December.

On the sidelines of the Human Space Flight Expo in Bengaluru, Isro Chairman S Somanath said the revised crew abort system has a higher capability. “We are planning a test using a special test vehicle. It is going to be flagged off to Sriharikota soon, maybe in one or two days,” he told media persons.

The first abort test is designed to separate the crew module from the special test vehicle at an altitude of about 11 km from sea level, get to a height of nearly 15 km and fall into the Bay of Bengal.

Once this test is completed, Somanath said “We have to integrate the crew module and test it. This year, we want to do that launch, aborting and demonstrating how crew can be saved. A little more work is required for the crew module.”

The pressurised crew module with human service capability called the environmental life support system is currently being developed. “Various elements of this are under development. As an integrated system, it is yet to see the final shape.”

The most important element, he said, is the rocket intelligence system that alerts when something goes wrong. “An integrated computer for this Onboard Launch Vehicle Health Management System has just been made. Now, a lot of algorithms have to be fed into it and simulations conducted. This work will go on for the next one year or so,” Somanath elaborated.