Hossen Sohel: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday announced that the country would launch its first manned space mission by 2022, reports The Time of India.
When India celebrates 75th year of Independence in 2022, and if possible even before, an Indian son or daughter will undertake a manned space mission on board ‘’Gaganyaan carrying the national flag,” said the PM from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
This would make India the fourth nation to send a human in space after the USA, Russia and China. However, the proposed human spaceflight programme (HSP), something that has been on the table since 2004, is still a long way despite advancements in some critical technologies in the past decades.
The original plan was realizing a Two-Stage-to-orbit (TSTO) fully reusable launch vehicle, which could carry two-three people into low earth orbit and bring them back. The UPA government had sanctioned Rs 145 crore for prelaunch activities and Isro is expected to get more funding in the coming months following Modi’s announcement yesterday.
As of yesterday, there is no actual estimation in public domain, but insiders say that it needs a budget of at least Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 12,000.
As part of the preparations, Isro has been testing technologies, an important one involving the crew escape system- a key system being developed as part of the proposed HSP- was tested on July 5.