ISRO's Gaganyaan Expected to Launch in 2024, Four Fighter Pilots Identified as Potential Crew

India's first human space-flight mission, Gaganyaan, is expected to launch in 2024, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said recently. The government had planned the space flight for 2021, but the schedule got delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first test-flight will be followed by a female-looking spacefaring humanoid robot. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has identified four fighter pilots as the potential crew for the human space-flight mission.

According to a recent report by PTI, Gaganyaan, India's maiden human space-flight mission, is expected to launch in 2024, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said. As mentioned earlier, the government had planned to launch the space-flight this year, in 2021. The schedule got delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first test-flight is set to be followed by a female-looking spacefaring humanoid robot — Vyom Mitra — into outer space.

To recall, the IAF has identified four fighter pilots as crew for the upcoming space-flight mission. They have undergone training in Russia.

The spacecraft is planned to be launched to an altitude of 15km during which the space scientists will simulate an abort scenario. This will be done to ensure the return of crew capsule to the Earth using parachutes.

The second orbital test flight will take the Gaganyaan crew capsule to a higher altitude. A similar abort scenario will again take place to perfect the system.