Why in news?
India is all set to begin its ambitious Gaganyaan mission which would send Indian astronauts into space.
More about the mission
- It aims at sending three flights into the orbit where 1 will be manned and other 2 will be unmanned.
- The spacecraft will have 3 astronauts and will be referred to as an orbital module; its payload consists of 2 important module, the crew module consisting of human beings and service module consisting of two liquid-propellant engines.
- It will be present at the lower earth orbit at an altitude of 300-400kms from the earth for about 5-7 days.
- Its launch vehicle will be GSLV MkIII which is a heavy-lift launch vehicle and a vital part of the mission.
- Research has started with respect to the mission and studies have been performed such as pad abort tests.
- The mission is to cost around Rs. 10000 crores.
- This will be India’s first time via its own spacecraft to take its people into space.
