On October 21, the first Gaganyaan test flight will take place

Before the Gaganyaan mission on October 21, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will conduct the first of numerous test flights, according to Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh.

The crew module that will house Indian astronauts during human spaceflight later next year will be tested during the test vehicle development flight (TV-D1) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

The module will be launched into orbit, returned to Earth, and recovered after touching down in the Bay of Bengal. When speaking at a ceremony honoring the ISRO engineers who worked on the Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L-1 missions, Singh said that the Navy has already begun practice operations to retrieve the module.

The TV-D1 will test both the crew module and the “crew escape” mechanism, which is intended to return the crew to Earth in the event that the spacecraft has difficulties as it ascends into space.

The minister stated that if the test is successful, it would pave the way for the first unmanned “Gaganyaan” mission and eventually the human journey to low-Earth orbit.

Prior to the final human “Gaganyaan” mission, a test flight including a female robot astronaut named “Vyommitra” will take place the following year.

The Gaganyaan project aims to launch a human crew into a 400 km orbit and return them safely to land in Indian sea waters as a demonstration of the potential of human spaceflight.