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October 20th, 2023
Image credit: ISRO
The countdown is underway for India’s milestone-making launch of the Gaganyaan TV-D1 – an “In-flight” abort demonstration of the crew escape system.
Project Gaganyaan is India’s effort to become a member of the elite cadre of countries capable of independent human spaceflight.
Image credit: ISRO
This TV-D1 test flight is scheduled for October 21, 2023 between 7 am and 9 am (Indian Time), (October 20 – 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time) with Live Streaming available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMig6ZpqrIs
Escape tower test
For the Test Vehicle Abort mission-1, an unpressurized, uncrewed module will be used, lobbed skyward by a single-stage liquid rocket developed for this abort mission. The flight involves an escape tower outfitted with fast-acting solid motors.
Image credit: ISRO
“This Test Vehicle mission with this CM is a significant milestone for the overall Gaganyaan program as a near-complete system is integrated for a flight test,” explains the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). “The success of this test flight will set the stage for the remaining qualification tests and unmanned missions, leading to the first Gaganyaan mission with Indian Astronauts.”
Bay of Bengal recovery
The crew module houses all the systems for the deceleration and recovery, a complete set of parachutes, recovery aids actuation systems and pyros.
Image credit: ISRO
The avionics systems in the mock crew module are in a dual redundant mode configuration for navigation, sequencing, telemetry, instrumentation and power. This module is extensively instrumented to capture the flight data to evaluate the performance of various systems.
Liftoff of the Gaganyaan TV-D1 will take place at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota, one of the lead centers of the ISRO. Following the test flight, lasting roughly 9 minutes, the crew module will be recovered in the Bay of Bengal, using a dedicated vessel and diving team from the Indian Navy.
Posted in Space News
