Why is it in the news?

• ISRO to conduct the first test flight for India’s Gaganyaan mission.

More about the news

• The test simulates abort conditions during ascent, with the Crew Module (CM) and Crew Escape Systems (CES) separating at an altitude of about 17 km.
• The initial test, called Test Vehicle Abort Mission (TV-D1), will use an unpressurized module.
• The TV-D1 test vehicle is a single-stage liquid-fuelled rocket designed for this abort mission.
• The success of this test will pave the way for the first unmanned Gaganyaan mission, followed by a test flight with the female robot astronaut “Vyommitra.”
• The Gaganyaan mission is scheduled for execution in the second half of the next year.

 About Gaganyaan

• The Gaganyaan Programme aims to demonstrate India’s capability to undertake human spaceflight to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). It will be launched by GSLV Mark III.
• It includes two unmanned missions and one manned mission.
• Gaganyaan is smaller than Russian Soyuz, Chinese Shenzhou, and NASA’s planned Orion spacecraft for manned missions.
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About GSLV Mark III

• GSLV Mark III is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO.
• It has two solid strap-ons, a core liquid booster, and a cryogenic upper stage.
• It can carry 4-ton class satellites to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), twice the capacity of GSLV Mk II.