India Plans to Launch Its First Human Space Flight

What is happening?

Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister for Science and Technology, recently announced that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch India's first human space flight, "Gaganyaan," by 2025.

According to the minister, two preliminary launches will take place in 2024, the first of which will be unmanned. This will help in the marking of flying paths around the Earth. There will be no humans in the second launch also. Instead, a robot will serve as a human replacement.

The mission's readiness will be tested during the first two launches. Humans will be sent into space by this mission only if the results of the first two flights are satisfactory.

What is the Gaganyaan mission?

The name of India's human space flight programme is Gaganyaan. The Gaganyaan mission aims to launch a three-person crew into a 400-kilometre orbit for a three-day space journey and safely return to Earth. The mission was announced by ISRO to show human space flight capability (if NASA can do it, we can do it too!).

This mission requires the development of various important technologies that will help the crew during this mission. Before sending actual humans to space, several test flights are planned to check how ready the technology is.

Where will the crew be trained for this mission?

The crew will be trained in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Classroom training, physical fitness training, simulator training, and flight suit training will be provided. Academic courses, Gaganyaan flight systems, survival training, and other topics will also be discussed.

What did we learn from this article?

We learned that India has a really good space programme that has done important work in space exploration, satellite technology, etc.

But now, we’re planning to send humans to space for the first time. NASA has done it but ISRO is trying for the first time. Who knows, maybe ISRO can become the best space company in the world!

Would you like to work for ISRO in the future? Do you want to explore space when you grow up? Please let us know in the comments section.