New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that ISRO’s successful launch of a test vehicle as part of its Gaganyaan mission takes India a step closer to realising its first human space flight programme.
In a post on X, he said, “This launch takes us one step closer to realising India’s first human space flight program, Gaganyaan. My best wishes to our scientists at ISRO.”
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also hailed the successful launch of the Gaganyaan’s TV-D1 test flight, saying it has scripted India’s another remarkable space odyssey.
A single-stage liquid propulsion rocket, equipped with a crew module and crew escape system, lifted off from Sriharikota on Saturday.
The payloads later splashed into the sea as planned, a development that was welcomed with loud cheers at the mission control centre.
“After the successful launch of the Chandrayaan-3, our nation is ready to take its next giant stride in the realm of space. Today the @isro launched #Gaganyaan’s TV-D1 Test Flight into space scripting another remarkable space odyssey.
“My heartfelt congratulations to our scientists and our citizens on this momentous occasion of success and fulfilment,” Shah said in a post on X.
The Gaganyaan programme aims to send humans into space on a Low Earth Orbit of 400 km for three days and bring them back safely to Earth.
The test vehicle mission was aimed at studying the safety of the crew module and crew escape system in bringing astronauts back to Earth in the eventual mission.
