ISRO To Carry Out More Than Two Uncrewed Missions Before Human Spaceflight Under Gaganyaan Mission

Instead of the planned two uncrewed missions, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) could carry out more such missions before the final human spaceflight under the ambitious Gaganyaan programme takes place.

Upon completing the first two uncrewed missions, the national-level Gaganyaan Advisory Council (GAC) will take the final call on how many uncrewed missions ISRO may need to carry out based on the data from the two missions.

Speaking to Times of India, ISRO's chief Dr K Sivan shared, "The GAC has advised that the first uncrewed mission should be completed as soon as possible. Based on how the systems perform during the first and the second uncrewed missions and evaluation of the data, the GAC will decide if we need more missions before the astronauts are sent."

Dr Sivan also shared that the preparations (development of systems) are being done to keep the astronauts in space for a week, though ISRO could be cautious with the first mission. He said that no decision had been taken yet on how long the astronauts will be in space.