• By Kamal Kumar
  • Sat, 17 Aug 2024 10:28 AM (IST)
  • Source:JND

India's space flight aspirations are soon to become a reality as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch the first test flight of its human rocket for the Gaganyaan mission in December 2024. Sharing the latest information after the successful launch of India's earth observation satellite-08 (EOS-08), ISRO Chairman Dr S Somanath said that the Gaganyaan rocket's three stages have reached the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

"The Gaganyaan rocket's three stages have come to Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The integration of the crew module is happening at VSSC (Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram)," the ISRO chairman said.

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The chairman further informed that all systems of the Gaganyaan rocket will reach the Satish Dhawan Space Centre by November this year and ISRO has targeted December for the launch of the test flight. The Gaganyaan rocket has been codenamed G1.

On Friday morning, ISRO's new rocket, the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), successfully launched two satellites—EOS-08 and SR-0, which belong to the space start-up Space Rickshaw—into orbit with precision. This marked the third and final development flight for the SSLV.

Dr Somanath confirmed that the third developmental mission of the SSLV was successfully completed.

"We can declare the process of SSLV development has been completed. We are in the process of transferring the SSLV technology to the industries," he said.

Dr Somanath said the SSLV design has been kept simple for the industry to make it.

The SSLV designed and developed by ISRO has a payload capacity of 500 kg and is powered by solid fuel.

The space agency will not only transfer the SSLV technology to Industry for commercial production but also teach the process of building the rocket.

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"We will transfer the knowledge and not just the drawings. The industry people will come to ISRO to learn how to build rockets," he added.

Last year the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), the regulator for private players in the Indian space sector, announced ISRO's decision to transfer the SSLV technology to private companies.

The process of selecting the industry or the consortium of industries is on.

Dr Somanath said it will take about two years for the selected party to learn and roll out two SSLVs. In the interim, public sector NewSpace India Ltd will fund the making of the SSLV.

(With IANS Inputs)