Gaganyaan on track to launch in 2027, says ISRO Chief

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chief V Narayanan recently issued an update on India's principal space goals, confirming the launch date for the country's first human spaceflight mission, and laying out ambitious plans for lunar exploration and international collaboration. 

Gaganyaan, India's first human spaceflight project, is still on track to launch in 2027, according to the ISRO chief.

Narayanan emphasised India's space capabilities, stating that the country ranked first globally in nine space areas. ISRO's achievements vary from discovering water on the Moon with the Chandrayaan-1 mission to securing the first soft landing near the lunar south pole with the Chandrayaan-3 mission, IndiaTV reports.

The ISRO Chief stated that, building on this success, the Prime Minister has set a target of launching India's first crewed lunar mission by 2040, after which ISRO expects to be able to transport Indians to and from the Moon.

He also shared an update on other ISRO missions and collaborations:

• International collaboration: India is open to international space partnerships depending on its scientific and strategic interests.

• Aditya L1 success: The Aditya L1 mission has already collected more than 15 terabytes of solar data, offering valuable insights into coronal mass ejections and space weather.

The ISRO Chief underlined India's space capabilities by stating that the organisation has successfully launched 433 satellites from 34 countries commercially.

Meanwhile, ISRO just revealed footage from a major parachute test for Gaganyaan. 

The video shows a drogue parachute, a 5.8-meter conical ribbon chute packed in a mortar system, deploying at high speed from a test capsule to demonstrate its role in slowing and stabilising the crew module during re-entry.