Test rocket for human space mission lifts off successfully after stopping automatically

India’s first human space mission or Gaganyaan is expected to happen in 2025 and testing the crew escape system is part of that

PGurus Newsdesk

October 21, 2023

India’s first human space mission or Gaganyaan is expected to happen in 2025 and testing the crew escape system is part of that

ISRO successful at Gaganyaan test: Crew escape system works

India’s first rocket part of its human space mission/ Gaganyaan – Test Vehicle-D1 (TV-D1) lifted off successfully at 10 a.m. on Saturday after a brief delay. The test vehicle blasted off from the first launch pad at the rocket port here.

Earlier, just seconds before lift-off, the vehicle’s computer systems put it on hold.

The lift-off was originally scheduled for 8 a.m. but owing to weather conditions and poor visibility it was rescheduled. But it finally lifted off only at 10 a.m. after technical glitches were sorted.

“The Saturday morning mission called Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1) will demonstrate the crew escape system and Saturday’s mission is the first of the four such test flights planned by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),” Chairman S Somanath said.

In other words, if something goes wrong with the rocket carrying the astronauts in the crew module, then they have to be saved as their lives are at risk. The crew escape system is designed to protect the astronauts lives by bringing them safely down to splash on the sea.

Like a fighter pilot ejecting from a fighter plane, the crew module with the astronauts will get separated and splash down on the sea with the help of parachutes.

As per plans, India’s first human space mission, or Gaganyaan is expected to happen in 2025, and testing the crew escape system is part of that.

According to ISRO, the Saturday flight is for flight demonstration and evaluation of test vehicle sub-systems; flight demonstration and evaluation of crew escape system including various separation systems and crew module characteristics, and deceleration systems demonstration at higher altitude and its recovery.

Measuring about 35 tall and weighing about 44 tonne, the test vehicle/ rocket uses a modified Vikas engine which is powered by liquid fuel.

The crew module and crew escape system are mounted at the foreend of the rocket.

The entire flight sequence — from the test rocket’s lift-off to the crew module touchdown at the sea with the deployment of parachutes — will take about 531 seconds or about nine minutes.

According to ISRO, the mass of the crew module is 4,520 kg, and is a single-walled unpressurized aluminum structure. At about 61 seconds into the flight and at an altitude of 11.9 km, the test vehicle/ rocket and the crew escape system will get separated.

And 91 seconds after the lift-off and at an altitude of 16.9 km, the crew module and crew escape system will get separated.

Subsequently, the abort sequence will be executed autonomously commencing with the separation of the crew escape system and deployment of the series of parachutes, finally culminating in the safe touchdown of the crew module in the sea, about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota, ISRO said.

The crew module will house the astronauts in a pressurized earthlike atmospheric condition during the real human space mission.

Currently, the crew module for the Gaganyaan mission is in different stages of development. The TV-D1 is an unpressurized version but has the overall size and mass of the actual Gaganyaan crew module and would house all the systems for deceleration and recovery. The avionics systems in the crew module are in a dual redundant mode configuration for navigation, sequencing, telemetry, instrumentation, and power.

According to ISRO, the crew module in this mission is extensively instrumented to capture the flight data for evaluation of the performance of various systems. The deceleration of the crew module will be done with parachutes with pyro systems. The parachute deployment initiation will be done when the crew module is at about 17 km altitude.

The crew module will splash down on the sea at about 10 km from the launch pad at Sriharikota at about 531 seconds after the rocket’s lift-off and would float till it was recovered by the Indian Navy.

Recovery ships will approach the crew module and a team of divers will attach a buoy, hoist it using a ship crane, and bring it to the shore. The crew escape system will hit the sea at about 14 km from Sriharikota.

This Test Vehicle mission with this crew module is a significant milestone for the overall Gaganyaan programme as a near-complete system is integrated for a flight test. 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, ISRO said.

[With Inputs from IANS]

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