Gaganyaan Mission: Deadline Looks Tough but India Has Capability, Says Scientist

PM Modi referred to Gaganyaan during his I-Day address.

Mumbai, Aug 15: In his Independence Day address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to put an Indian in space by 2022 via an indigenous spacecraft. Reacting, the chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said they were on the job already. “The PM has given the target of 2022 and it is our duty to meet it. We are already on the job…we have completed many technologies like crew module and escape systems. The project has been underway, now we need to prioritise and achieve the target,” K Sivan told ANI on Gaganyaan 2022 mission.

Earlier, Tushar Jadhav, a scientist with the Pratham Satellite team, speaking on the Gaganyaan 2022 mission, had said, “We need to enhance technology to achieve this, deadline looks tough but we certainly have the capability to do it. A big rocket and astronaut training are two main challenges.” (Also read: By 2022, an Indian Will go to Space, Says PM Modi)

Pratham is an Indian ionospheric research satellite which was launched in 2016 and its primary mission is to count electrons in the Earth’s ionosphere. In his Independence Day speech, PM Modi said, that while he was proud of the achievements of our scientists, the country should be able to send an Indian to space on an indigenous craft.

आज मेरा सौभाग्य है कि इस पावन अवसर पर मुझे देश को एक और खुशखबरी देने का अवसर मिला है। साल 2022, यानि आजादी के 75वें वर्ष में और संभव हुआ तो उससे पहले ही, भारत अंतरिक्ष में तिरंगा लेकर जा रहा है: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 15, 2018

He said with the achievement, India would become only the fourth country to be able to do so. India’s first lunar probe was Chandrayaan-1. It was launched by ISRO in October 2008. Mangalyaan is another Indian space project. The Mars Orbiter Mission, also called Mangalyaan, is a space probe orbiting Mars since September 24, 2014.