India carried out the TV-D1 test mission. During it, the emergency escape system of the Gaganyaan spacecraft module was tested. The tests were completed successfully, and now the country’s space agency is preparing for unmanned flights into orbit.
Module of the Gaganian spacecraft was tested
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Saturday, October 21, tested the escape system of the Gaganyaan spacecraft. The TV-D1 test mission started at 12:30 a.m. Eastern from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, on the island of Sriharikota.
Despite the fact that the first attempt was canceled five seconds before the scheduled launch due to the activation of hazard sensors, the second rocket was launched. 61 seconds after the launch, at an altitude of 11.9 km, the crew escape system undocked the Gaganyaan module from it, which prolonged the ascent for some time.
At 16 km above the ground, the module separated from the escape system and began to descend. First, a drogue parachute was used to slow down its movement, and then the main one deployed at an altitude of 2.5 km. Thanks to it, the module made a soft landing on water 10 km from the island of Sriharikota.
What’s next
ISRO is very pleased with the tests because they passed properly. And now they are convinced of the safety of Gaganyaan. The next step will be three unmanned spacecraft trips to Earth orbit, which should take place in 2024. And after them, in 2025, people are supposed to fly into space.
However, Gaganyaan’s project can hardly be called trouble-free. It was announced in 2018. Then it was announced that the first unmanned mission would take place in 2020. However, as the years passed, it was postponed several times.
However, this year there was a breakthrough in the Indian space program. ISRO managed to land Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon and send Aditya-L1 to study the Sun. And now a new success leads to the implementation of a manned flight. If this happens, India will become the fourth country that has managed to send a man into space on its own.
According to spacenews.com
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