ISRO to conduct first abort mission for Gaganyaan in August

With the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will now focus on the country’s first manned mission to space, Gaganyaan, and has planned to conduct the first abort mission for the ambitious project by the end of August. 

A modified version of ISRO’s most-reliable rocket LVM3, which successfully placed the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into the intended orbit on July 14, with human rating requirements will be used to launch Gaganyaan as well, ISRO scientists said. 

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Through the Gaganyaan mission, ISRO wants to demonstrate its capabilities of human spaceflight by sending three crew members to a 400 km Low Earth Orbit with a mission life of three to four days. The first manned spaceflight, which is likely to take place in 2024, will also be launched from the second launchpad of the Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) here. 

As the first step towards the launch, ISRO plans to conduct Gaganyaan’s first abort mission in August. “The abort mission will be conducted by the end of August,” ISRO Chairman S Somnath said. 

Chandrayaan-3 Project Director Mohan Kumar said the mission’s successful launch by LVM3 makes it the perfect launch vehicle for the Gaganyaan mission as well. All systems in LVM3 will be re-configured to meet human rating requirements and christened Human Rated LVM3.

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HLVM3 will be capable of launching the Orbital Module to an intended Low Earth Orbit of 400 km, scientists said, adding that the launch will consist of three stages -- solid stage, liquid stage and cryogenic stage.

The first stage of the mission is the Human Rated S200 solid strap-on booster strapped beside the central core of the launch vehicle will give high acceleration for lift-off and will be modified to human-rating standards by increasing structural safety and optimal thrust for crew safety during the ascent phase. 

The second stage is L-110G liquid-propelled twin engine which provides thrust using UH25 as fuel and N204 as oxidizer, and the third is Cryogenic Upper Stage which uses hydrogen as fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer for propulsion which needs initial ignition. The crew model will consist of the human habitable module with control system for the mission, necessary systems for crew communication, navigation, guidance, and avionics system, and the dome is filled with silica tiles to protect the crew module from high temperatures. 

The service model provides necessary Environmental Control Life Support System and support to the crew module while in orbit and has all essential subsystems to perform the on-orbit functions till CM is separated for de-boost or abort during orbit.