About the Mission

• Announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, Gaganyaan is the first Indian Human Space Flight Programme (HSP) with the objective to demonstrate the capability to send humans to low earth orbit on board an Indian launch vehicle and bring them back to earth safely.
• The spacecraft, which is being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), consists of a service module and a crew module, collectively known as the Orbital Module.

• With this, India could potentially become the fourth country to send a man to space, after the erstwhile USSR, the US and China.
• The first of the two pre-Gaganyaan flights with a humanoid will be launched soon along with some of the six shortlisted micro-gravity experiments.
• GSLV Mk III, the three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle, will be used to launch Gaganyaan as it has the necessary payload capability.

• Recently, the Government of India announced that the final crewed Gaganyaan mission will be launched in 2023.

Why in News?

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) received a video message from Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti wishing success to the country’s space agency on the ‘Gaganyaan’ programme. The ‘Gaganyaan’ programme is scheduled to launch in 2023, as the country marks its 75th anniversary of independent India.

Reference:

1. https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=Italian-astronaut-wishes-success-to-ISRO-for-%26%2339%3bGaganyaan%26%2339%3b-programme&id=445937