Gaganyaan

Gaganyaan
Manufacturer HAL and ISRO
Country of origin  India
Operator ISRO
Applications Crewed orbital vehicle
Specifications
Spacecraft type Crewed
Design life 7  days
Launch mass 7,800 kg (includes service module)[1]
Dry mass 3,735 kg[1]
Crew capacity 3
Dimensions Diameter: 3.00 m[1]
Height: 2.70 m
Volume 11.5 m3[1]
Regime Low Earth orbit
Production
Status In development
First launch 2022 (planned)[2]

Gaganyaan ("Skycraft") is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the basis of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The spacecraft is being designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capability. In its maiden crewed mission, Indian Space Research Organisation's largely autonomous 3.7-tonne capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 km (250 mi) altitude for up to seven days with a three-person crew on board. The crewed vehicle is planned to be launched on ISRO's GSLV Mk III in 2022.[2] This HAL-manufactured crew module had its first uncrewed experimental flight on 18 December 2014.[3]

History

Preliminary studies and technological development of Gaganyaan started in 2006 under the generic name "Orbital Vehicle". The plan was to design a simple capsule similar to the Mercury-class spacecraft with an endurance of about a week in space. It was designed to carry two astronauts and to splashdown after re-entry. The design was finalized by March 2008 and was submitted to the Government of India for funding. The funding for the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme was sanctioned in February 2009,[4] but it fell short of full political support and it obtained limited developmental funding.[4] Initially, the first uncrewed flight of the orbital vehicle was proposed to be in 2013,[5][6] then it was revised to 2016.[7] However, in April 2012 it was reported that funding problems placed the future of the project in serious doubt;[8] and in August 2013 it was announced that all crewed spaceflight efforts by India had been designated as being 'off ISRO's priority list'.[9] By early 2014 the project was reconsidered and was one of the main beneficiaries of a substantial budget increase announced in February 2014.[10] ISRO is developing the Gaganyaan orbital vehicle on the tests performed with their scaled 550 kg Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE), which was launched and recovered in January 2007.

The latest push for the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme took place in 2017,[11] and it was accepted and formally announced by the Prime Minister on 15 August 2018.[12] The latest design calls for a crew of three.

Funding and infrastructure

The government allocated ₹ 500 million (US$10 million) for pre-project initiatives for 2007 through 2008. A crewed spacecraft would require about ₹ 124 billion (US$3 billion) and a period of seven years. The Planning Commission estimated in 2007 that a budget of ₹ 50 billion (US$1 billion) was required for initial work of the crewed spacecraft during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007–12).[13][14]

Madhavan Chandradathan, director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), stated that ISRO would need to set up an astronaut training facility in Bangalore, as well as build a third launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre for crewed missions, with extra facilities needed for launch escape systems.[14] In spring 2009 the full-scale mock-up of crew capsule of Gaganyaan was built and delivered to Satish Dhawan Space Centre for training of astronauts.[15]

Having met all required technological keystones, the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme was accepted and formally announced by the Prime Minister on 15 August 2018. Gaganyaan will be the first crewed spacecraft under this programme.

Description

Soyuz spacecraft

Gaganyaan is a fully autonomous 3.7-tonne spacecraft designed to carry a 3-member crew to orbit and safely return to the Earth after a mission duration of few orbits and up to seven days. The capsule is similar to the Soyuz-shaped reentry spacecraft.[1] Its service module is powered by two liquid propellant engines. The crew module is mated to the service module, and together they are called the orbital module. Based on the payload capability of the GSLV-III booster, the service module would have a mass of about 3 tonnes.[1]

The space capsule will have life support and environmental control systems. It will be equipped with emergency mission abort and emergency escape that can be done at the first stage or second stage of the rocket burn.[16] The nose of the original version of the orbital vehicle was free for a docking mechanism, but primary entry was evidently through a side hatch secured by explosive bolts.[17]

Gaganyaan is slated to be launched on the GSLV Mk III launcher in 2022.[2][18]

About 16 minutes after liftoff from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, the rocket will inject the spacecraft into an orbit 300–400 km above Earth. The capsule would return for a splashdown in the Bay of Bengal.[19]

While many technological elements to put together a crewed flight are already available, ISRO would need to develop many new technologies to ensure a reliable and safe life-support and escape escape system for the crew. And in order to perfect the reentry techniques considered crucial for a crewed flight, ISRO is planning to carry out three more flights of Space Recovery Capsules (SRE) and few uncrewed flights of the Gaganyaan spacecraft.[20]

Re-entry test

The Crew capsule descends under parachutes on 5 July 2018 after the abort motor lifted it to an altitude of 8,200 feet (2.5 km)

On 13 February 2014, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited handed over the first Crew Module structural assembly to ISRO.[3][21] ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre would equip the Crew Module with systems necessary for life support, navigation, guidance and control systems. ISRO undertook an uncrewed test launch of the vehicle aboard the GSLV Mk3 X1 experimental sub-orbital flight on 18 December 2014. The GSLV Mk3 launcher with a dummy upper cryogenic stage (filled with liquid nitrogen to simulate weight of fuel) was launched at 9:30am from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.[22][23] The crew module separated from the rocket at an altitude of 126 km. On board motors controlled and reduced the speed of the module until an altitude of 80 km. Thrusters were shutoff at 80 km and atmospheric drag further reduced speed of the capsule. The module heat shield was expected to experience temperature in excess of 1600 °C. Parachutes were deployed at an altitude of 15 km to slow down the module which performed a soft landing in the Bay of Bengal near Andaman and Nicobar islands.

This flight was used to test orbital injection, separation and re-entry procedures and systems of the Crew Capsule. Also tested were the capsule separation, heat shields and aerobraking systems, deployment of parachute, retro-firing, splashdown, flotation systems and procedures to recover the Crew Capsule from the Bay of Bengal.[24][25]

Pad Abort Test

The Indian Space Research Organisation's Pad Abort Test was due for March 2017, but it was delayed to 5 July 2018. It was a success.[26]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Indian Manned Spacecraft. Astronautix. 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Gaganyaan mission to take Indian astronaut to space by 2022: PM Modi. The Hindu. 15 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 http://hal-india.com/Crew%20Module.asp
  4. 1 2 Priyadarshi, Siddhanta (23 February 2009). "Planning Commission Okays ISRO Manned Space Flight Program". Indian Express. p. 2.
  5. ↑ ISRO gets green signal for manned space mission, Science News - By Indiaedunews.net
  6. ↑ "Gaganyan: How to send an Indian into space".
  7. ↑ Beary, Habib (27 January 2010). "India announces first manned space mission". Bangalore: BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  8. ↑ Press Trust of India (25 April 2012). "Spaceflight stuck due to budget: CAG". Times of India. New Delhi. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Press Trust of India. "Human space flight mission off ISRO priority list". Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  10. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Rs-171-crore-boost-to-manned-space-project/articleshow/30591353.cms
  11. ↑ THE DECISION FOR INDIAN HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT PROGRAMME. POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES, NATIONAL RELEVANCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES. (PDF) Mukund Kadursrinivas Raoa, Sridhara Murthi K. Rb, and Prasad M. 68th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Adelaide, Australia, 25-29 September 2017.
  12. ↑ Indian will take national flag to space on board Gaganyaan by 2022, says PM Narendra Modi in Independence Day speech. Hindustan Times. 15 August 2018.
  13. ↑ Eleventh Five year Plan (2007-12) proposals for Indian space program
  14. 1 2 Mishra, Bibhu Ranjan (8 October 2008). "ISRO plans manned mission to moon in 2014". Business Standard. Sriharikota Range (SHAR). Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  15. ↑ T.S. Subramanian (2 May 2009), "Model of space crew module ready", The Hindu, Chennai, retrieved 14 June 2013
  16. ↑ Ray, Kalyan (4 January 2009). "ISRO gears up for manned space mission". Deccan Herald. Shillong. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  17. ↑ Orbital Vehicle Archived 1 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ↑ ISRO eyes a manned Moon mission by 2015, awaiting Govt approval
  19. ↑ "ISRO inches closer to manned mission". Times of India. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014. We will be checking the crew capsule for all parameters.
  20. ↑ Towards an Indian manned flight
  21. ↑ Human space flight prog: HAL hands over crew module assembly to ISRO | Business Line
  22. ↑
  23. ↑ "India to launch unmanned crew module in December". The Economic Times. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  24. ↑ GSLV Mark III takes to the skies in test flight The Hindu 19 December 2014
  25. ↑ India launches largest rocket and unmanned capsule BBC News 18 December 2014
  26. ↑ "ISRO conducts pad abort test for Indian human space flight program – NASASpaceFlight.com". www.nasaspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
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