Hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dr K Sivan led Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s flagship space missions are likely to witness slight delays and change of timelines, reports Times of India.

It is likely that the nation's premier space research institution would delay the launch of unmanned space mission under the first leg of the ambitious Gaganyaan programme, which would take into space a three-member Indian crew for a period of five to seven days before 2022 when India completes 75 years of independence from the usurious British Raj.

The unmanned space flight was earlier scheduled to take-off in December 2020. This was then supposed to be followed by a second unmanned mission in June 2021, post which the final human flight was to be lifted into space in December 2021. This was six months before the deadline.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that the ISRO is still aiming to complete the project within the deadline, having several additional months in its hands.

The mission had been announced by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi two years ago on Independence Day from the Red Fort.

The other flagship project which is likely to witness slight delay is the Chandrayaan-3 mission under which ISRO is aiming to land a rover on the surface of far-end of the Moon. ISRO had earlier aimed to execute the project by the end of 2020.