Manned Gaganyaan mission in first quarter of 2027: Jitendra Singh

NEW DELHI: The launch of India's maiden human space flight - Gaganyaan - is now scheduled for the first quarter of 2027, space minister Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday.

Accompanied by Isro chairman V Narayanan during a media interaction here, the minister said the successful completion of TV-D1 mission and the first uncrewed test vehicle abort mission earlier this year have laid a strong foundation for the upcoming test schedule. The second test vehicle mission (TV-D2) is slated for later in 2025, followed by the uncrewed orbital flights of Gaganyaan involving a female robot, Vyommitra . These milestones will culminate in India's maiden human spaceflight in 2027, marking the country's formal entry into the elite group of nations - currently comprising the US, Russia and China - capable of human spaceflight.

Calling it a "historic mission", Singh said "the Gaganyaan programme not only involves Isro scientists, but several key institutes like IITs, IISc, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and armed forces, particularly Navy personnel, are also playing key roles in preparation for the mission." Hinting at Gaganyaan and Deep Ocean Mission launches, Singh said, "India will explore both space and deep sea in 2026." The Isro chairman said govt has increased the Gaganyaan budget to Rs 20,193 crore from an initial outlay of Rs 10,000 crore as programme will now involve eight missions, of which two will carry human crew and other six will be uncrewed. "It is not an Isro programme, it is a national programme," said Narayanan while informing that Isro has successfully completed 7,000 tests to certify the human rating of its launch vehicle for Gaganyaan.

The human-rated LVM3 vehicle, crew escape system, crew module, and service module are in final testing and integration. Astronaut-designates have completed physical, psychological, and spaceflight training, and are now in the final phase of mission-specific preparation, Narayanan confirmed.