New Delhi:
Indian space agency ISRO today successfully launched its unmanned test flight for its first manned spaceflight mission – ‘Gaganyaan’ – in the second attempt after the launch was briefly suspended.
“The takeoff was initially halted after the ground computer detected a non-conformity. We were able to identify and correct it very quickly,” ISRO chief S. Somnath said.
The ISRO chief said the purpose of the mission was to demonstrate the crew escape system. “The vehicle was traveling slightly above the speed of sound before it activated the crew escape system,” he said, explaining what went wrong during the first attempt.
“We will come back with more data and analysis after we retrieve the crew modules from the sea,” Mr Somnath said.
The ambitious space mission is an attempt to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s target of setting up an Indian space station by ISRO by 2035 and launching an Indian astronaut to the moon by 2040.
