Gaganyaan G1 mission

Why in News?

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) began the ‘stacking,’ or assembly, of HLVM3 at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

• It is the 1^st of 3 un-crewed test missions that will lead up to India’s maiden human spaceflight.
• Aim – To mimic - end to end - the actual flight and validate critical technologies and capabilities including the Human-rated Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (HLVM3).
• Activity – It will place the orbital module in a 170 km x 430 km elliptical orbit around the earth.
• Once the orbital module de-orbits, the crew module will separate for controlled re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere and splashdown in the Bay of Bengal

December 18, 2024 coincides with the 10^th anniversary of the sub-orbital Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE) mission of 2014.

• HLVM3 – Human rated launch vehicle, HLVM3, is derived from LVM3 and designed with enhanced reliability to meet human safety considerations.

• It is a 3-stage vehicle with a payload capacity of about 10 tonnes to LEO.
• The vehicle is 53 meters tall and weighs 640 tonnes.
• Orbital module components – The service module and the crew module together make up the orbital module
• The crew module is progressing at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, at Thumba in Kerala.
• Once the crew module is ready, it will be transferred to the U.R. Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru, for integration with the service module.
• After a series of tests including thermo-vacuum tests at the URSC, the orbital module will be transported to Sriharikota to be placed aboard the launch vehicle.
• The crew module is connected to the crew escape system which is placed at the very top.

References

1. The Hindu| Integration of Components of Gaganyaan G1 Mission
2. ISRO| HLVM3