Gaganyaan project: India’s maiden mission to launch manned spacecraft – what we know so far | Technology News, The Indian Express

Gaganyaan project: India’s maiden mission to launch manned spacecraft – what we know so far | Technology News, The Indian Express

New Delhi |Updated: December 28, 2018 7:21:24 pm

Gaganyaan project: India’s maiden mission to launch manned spacecraft – what we know so far

While preparations for sending the first Indian astronaut via an Indian spacecraft have been going ever since ISRO Policy Planning Committee envisaged the idea, the Cabinet approval that came on Friday afternoon was the first official step that concretised the timeline of Gaganyaan Project.

Ever since Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian cosmonaut to be sent into outer space in 1984, there have been Indian astronauts who have ventured into space but with spacecraft provided by space agencies of other countries. (Representational Image)

The Union Cabinet Friday approved the Gaganyaan project under which a three-member crew will be sent to space for at least seven days. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made this historic announcement on Independence Day this year from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi.  Gaganyaan Project – as the mission is popularly called – aims at sending three astronauts into outer space for a period of at least a week by 2022.

What is the Gaganyaan project?

The Gaganyaan project is a manned space mission which is distinct from previous space missions by Indian Space Research Agency (ISRO) because no other mission has involved sending astronauts in an indigenously built spacecraft. The project shall be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crores.