Gaganyaan mission: Takes us one step closer, says PM Modi

PM Modi (File Photo/PTI)

On Saturday, after the successful test of India's first manned space flight, the Gaganyaan mission, PM Narendra Modi congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

"This launch takes us one step closer to realising India's first human space flight program, Gaganyaan. My best wishes to our scientists at @isro," the PM Modi wrote on X.

IN PHOTOS: ISRO successfully launches Test Flight Abort Mission for Gaganyaan Mission

1 year agoPHOTO GALLERY

The Gaganyan project envisages the demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a 3-member crew to an orbit at an altitude of 400 kilometres for a three-day mission and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian waters.

ISRO successfully conducted the first test flight of the 'TV-D1' (Test Vehicle Development Flight 1) in the Gaganyaan Mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.

Earlier in the morning, the test was aborted at 8:45 am due to a problem in the engine ignition.

Amit Shah also congratulated ISRO and said on X, "After the successful launch of the Chandrayaan-3, our nation is ready to take its next giant stride in the realm of space. Today, the ISRO launched Gaganyaan's TV-D1 Test Flight into space, scripting another remarkable space odyssey. My heartfelt congratulations to our scientists and our citizens on this momentous occasion of success and fulfilment."

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin too lauded ISRO for successfully conducting a test flight of the Gaganyaan mission. "Congratulations to @isro on the successful #Gaganyaan TV-D1 test flight! This achievement marks a significant milestone on (sic) India's journey to space exploration. Kudos to the entire team for their dedication and hard work. #ISRO," he posted on X.

ISRO Chief Somanath said that the purpose of this mission was well achieved.

"I am very happy to announce the successful accomplishment of the TV-D1 mission. The purpose of this mission was to demonstrate the crew escape system for the Gaganyaan program through a test vehicle demonstration in which the vehicle went up to a Mach number, which is slightly above the speed of sound, and initiated an abort condition for the crew escape system to function," he said.

(with inputs from news agencies)