Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has shortlisted two of its four trained Gaganyaan astronauts for a Axiom-4 Mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in collaboration with United States’ NASA later this year

• Only one of the shortlisted astronauts will go on the mission.

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Gaganyaan

• AIM: The project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3 days mission and bringing them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.
• India as the fourth nation: Its success would mark India as the fourth nation to achieve human spaceflight capability, following Russia, the US and China.
• Prerequisites for Gaganyaan Mission: It  include development of many critical technologies including 
  • Human rated launch vehicle for carrying crew safely to space
  • Life Support System to provide an earth like environment to crew in space
  • Crew emergency escape provision 
  • Evolving crew management aspects for training, recovery and rehabilitation of crew.
• Various Precursor Missions:  To check the Technology Preparedness Levels before carrying out the actual Human Space Flight mission. These demonstrator missions include 
  • Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT)
  • Pad Abort Test (PAT) and Test Vehicle (TV) flights.
  • Unmanned missions preceding manned missions.

• HLVM3 – Human Rated LVM3
  • LVM3 Rocket: Launch vehicle for Gaganyaan mission. 
  • It consists of solid stage, liquid stage and cryogenic stage. 
  • All systems in the LVM3 launch vehicle are re-configured to meet human rating requirements and named Human Rated LVM3. 
    • HLVM3: It will be capable of launching the Orbital Module to an intended Low Earth Orbit of 400 km.
    • Consists of Crew Escape System (CES): It’s powered by a set of quick acting, high burn rate solid motors which ensures that Crew Module along with crew is taken to a safe distance in case of any emergency either at launch pad or during ascent phase.
• Orbital Module (OM)
  • It will be Orbiting Earth comprising Crew Module (CM) and Service Module (SM). 
  • OM: It is equipped with state-of-the-art avionics systems with adequate redundancy considering human safety.
  • CM: It is a habitable space with an Earth like environment in space for the crew. 
    • It houses the crew interfaces, human centric products, life support system, avionics and deceleration systems.
    • It is also designed for re-entry to ensure safety of the crew during descent till touchdown.
  • SM: It will be used for providing necessary support to CM while in orbit.
    • It is an unpressurized structure containing thermal system, propulsion system, power systems, avionics systems and deployment mechanisms.

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