After the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, ISRO is now gearing up to launch TV-D1 test flight as part of the Gaganyaan mission. According to reports, the Test Vehicle Development Flight 1 launch will happen at 7 AM on October 21. Commenting on the development at the Madurai Airport, ISRO Chairman revealed that the D1 test flight will be followed by 3 other test flights. Gaganyaan is an ambitious human space program and is regarded as the pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
ISRO took to X (formerly Twitter) and revealed that the space agency is ready to commence unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan mission. The post also mentioned that the preparations for the flight test vehicle abort mission are underway. ISRO specifically quoted that the TV-D1 is to demonstrate the performance of the crew escape system.
Mission Gaganyaan:
ISRO to commence unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan mission.Preparations for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), which demonstrates the performance of the Crew Escape System, are underway.https://t.co/HSY0qfVDEH @indiannavy #Gaganyaan pic.twitter.com/XszSDEqs7w
— ISRO (@isro) October 7, 2023
ISRO is looking to prove the eject mechanism with which the crew module will land safely in case of any problems mid-flight. The crew module is basically astronaut carrying shell. The crew module and the associated systems will be mounted above a mini-rocket also called a Test Vehicle during the TV-D1 test flight mission. The test vehicle is a liquid-fueled mini rocket based on the GSLV’s L40 stage booster. The required conditions such as Mach 1.2 will be achieved and the crew escape system and module will eject from the rocket when the vehicle is at an altitude of 17 km.
The crew module will be carried to a higher altitude, which is nearly 2kms away from the rocket. The system will make use of the onboard parachutes to decelerate and gradually splash down in the sea, which is nearly 10kms from the coast of the Sriharikota spaceport. The crew module will be recovered using a dedicated vessel and diving team from the Indian Navy.
The whole crew module underwent electrical and acoustic testng at ISRO’s facility in Bengaluru before sending the module to SHAR. The test vehicle has been assembled and the scientists are doing final quality checks before Saturday’s mission. We expect that the first test flight of Gaganyaan will become successful, which will pave way for the upcoming missions. ISRO is planning to send robot in the next attempt slated for 2024.
