Gagayaan Mission: ISRO’s Vyommitra to reach space after first flight

With the ethos of sky is not the limit, India’s premier space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for the country’s maiden human space-flight mission ‘Gaganyaan’.

Recently, sharing the details about the landmark endeavor, Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh recently said that the first trial of the human space mission will be done by the end of 2023 or at the beginning of 2024.

What is worth mentioning here is that the Minister informed about ‘Vyommitra’, a half-humanoid being developed by the ISRO, which will eventually fly to space after the first flight. It aims to lay the ground for ISRO’s manned mission.

The first trial for Gaganyaan will be done by the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024. The first test flight will be followed by sending a female-looking humanoid robot – ‘Vyommitra’.

“Next year one or two human beings of Indian origin will go to space. The preparations for our Gaganyaan have been done. Before that, two trials will be conducted by the end of this year. The first trial will be empty and in the second a female robot (astronaut) will be sent whose name is Vyommitra,” Jitendra Singh added.

Demystifying Vigorous Vyommitra (Graphics)

Result of a long toil of the ISRO’s Inertial Systems Unit, Thiruvananthapuram – Vyommitra has been developed as a prototype for a half-humanoid that will eventually fly to space on an unmanned mission under Gaganyaan programme. A humanoid is basically a robot with the appearance of a human being.

ISRO’s Vyommitra (vyoma means space, mitra means friend) is called a half-humanoid since she has a head, two hands and a torso, and doesn’t have a lower limbs. Coming to the functioning of Vyommitra, she can switch panel operations, ECLSS [environment control and life support systems] functions, can also be a companion,and converse with the astronauts by recognising them and also responding to their queries.

Further, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) MK III has been identified as the launcher for the Gaganyaan mission, given its successful launch pedigree so far, including the Chandrayaan mission.

The aim of Gaganyaan mission is to demonstrate the capability of sending humans to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in the short-term, which will lay the foundation for a sustained Indian human space exploration programme in the long run.