First test vehicle mission under the 'Gaganyaan' is likely to take place later this month or the next, said Minister of State for the Department of Space Jitendra Singh in Parliament on Thursday.
The first uncrewed mission has been approved after the success of two first test vehicle demonstration that happened earlier this year.
Gaganyaan is the maiden human space flight mission of India. India would become the fourth nation to launch its own crewed spacecraft, after the Soviet Union (later Russia), the United States, and China.
The minister said that crew module integration is completed, as has static tests of all crew escape system motors and ground testing of the crew module propulsion system.
Training of the astronaut crew is nearing completion and a second crew module sub-assembly identified for uncrewed mission is completed and delivered by the industry, he added.
Launchpad augmentation works are underway, while ISRO and the Indian Navy have commenced training to recover the vehicle from the sea at Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.
The Gaganyaan mission include the development of many critical technologies including a human-rated launch vehicle for carrying the crew safely to space, a life support system to provide earth like environment to the crew in space, crew emergency escape provision an evolving crew management aspects for training, recovery and rehabilitation of crew.
The minister said various labs have started delivering human-centric products, and the same are being tested.
The first crewed mission of Gaganyaan has been scheduled for late 2024 or early 2025.
The mission will comprise an orbital module, itself consisiting of a crew module and a service module. The crew module, which is a pressurized module, acts as living quarters for the crew. The orbital module will be positioned in ~400 km circular orbit around Earth for 1 to 3 days and the crew module will return back to the designated location in the sea.
The major issue faced till now has been the COVID pandemic which led to the inevitable delay in the supply of raw materials, he added.
