Follow-On Missions Of Gaganyaan To Include Civilians, First Human Spaceflight Planned For Next Year: ISRO

Senior official at ISRO said Gaganyaan's non-pilot crew members on future missions will include citizens, women, medical professionals, and scientists to conduct scientific research in space.

Aero-Space Medicine specialist and Commandant and Director of the Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Bengaluru, Dr Anupam Agarwal standing next to a model of the crew module ( Image Source :Getty )

A senior ISRO official on Saturday said that India's Gaganyaan mission will not be a "one-off" mission as the central government has granted approval for a "sustained human space flight programme". The director of ISRO's Directorate of Human Spaceflight Programme Imtiaz Ali Khan, while addressing the event named 'Be Inspired: Festival of Ideas' in Bengaluru, said that the follow-on space missions of Gaganyaan might include civilians such as doctors and scientists. He said that for the first human spaceflight which is planned to launch next year, four Air Force pilots have been selected and are undergoing extensive training for the mission.

News agency PTI quoted the Directorate as saying, “Gaganyaan will not be a one-off mission as the government has given us approval for a sustained human spaceflight (HSF) programme.”

He further said that future missions will be decided after the national space agency demonstrates its capabilities by carrying out the nation's first successful human spaceflight. According to him, a longer stay in microgravity is necessary for the type of benefit that one expects from the HSF programme, and new technologies like rendezvous and docking must be developed.

According to Khan, non-pilot crew members on future missions will include citizens, women, medical professionals, and scientists to conduct scientific research in space, reported PTI.

Age is not a very strict criteria need for space missions, according to him, as long as the individual is agile, fit, able to comprehend procedures, and performs well on simulators during training sessions.

As soon as the results of the two orbital test flights are known, ISRO hopes to launch at least two astronauts into low-Earth orbit in 2024.

A significant milestone in the advancement of the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme was achieved last week when ISRO successfully conducted the final long-duration hot test of the human-rated L110-G Vikas engine, reported PTI.

The Gaganyaan mission, which would cost 10,000 crores, was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address in 2018.