India Aces Crew Capsule Abort Test
India successfully completed a high altitude crew capsule abort test for its nascent Gaganyaan human spaceflight program today. The first attempt scrubbed just before liftoff, but they quickly found and fixed the problem, restarted the countdown, and lifted off two hours later than planned. After the capsule separated from the rocket, it splashed down in the ocean and was recovered by the Indian Navy.
India plans to launch astronauts into Earth orbit in 2025, build a space station by 2035, and land a man on the Moon by 2040.
Today’s TV-D1 test was a step in that direction. The uncrewed, unpressurized capsule was intended to reach an altitude of 17 kilometers (10.6 miles) and Mach 1.2, separate from the rocket and safely return to a water landing to demonstrate an abort capability in case of an emergency.
Scheduled for 08:00 India Standard Time (10:30 pm October 20 Eastern Daylight Time), the launch was delayed by 45 minutes due to weather. The countdown resumed and got as far as 5 seconds before liftoff when the automated launch sequence stopped the launch.
S. Somanath, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), later said the problem was a “monitoring anomaly” that was quickly remedied and the launch rescheduled for 10:00 IST, just two hours later than originally planned (October 21, 12:30 am EDT).
Reason for the launch hold is identified and corrected.
The launch is planned at 10:00 Hrs. today.
— ISRO (@isro) October 21, 2023
The launch and parachute deployment were broadcast live.
Somanath declared the test a success. He did not confirm what altitude it reached, but an onscreen display showed it was at least 16.7 km (10.3 miles).
The parachutes performed as planned and the module landed in the ocean where it was recovered.
The Crew Module
in the safe hands of @indiannavy #Gaganyaan pic.twitter.com/jfH0oQlmae— ISRO (@isro) October 21, 2023
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his congratulations.
This launch takes us one step closer to realising India’s first human space flight program, Gaganyaan. My best wishes to our scientists at @isro. https://t.co/6MO7QE1k2Z
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 21, 2023
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