India's Gaganyaan program hits key human-rating milestones, says Space Minister

Space Minister Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha that critical human-rating systems for the Gaganyaan mission have been developed and tested, bringing India nearer to its first crewed spaceflight.

Addressing the Rajya Sabha, Space Minister Jitendra Singh reported that the Gaganyaan programme has achieved major human-rating milestones, with all propulsion stages and structures of the Human Rated Launch Vehicle (HLVM3) completed and ground-tested. The propulsion units for the crew and service modules, along with the engineering model of the environmental control and life-support system, thermal protection, deceleration, crew-module up-righting system and end-to-end avionics, have all been successfully developed and qualified.

Safety advances include the development and static testing of five types of motors for the crew-escape system and qualification of associated structures. Key mission infrastructure—including an orbital-module preparation facility, Gaganyaan control centre, crew-training centre and modified launch pad—has been established, and the TV-D1 test vehicle mission validated the escape system, while integrated air-drop tests confirmed the deceleration system.

Ongoing activities involve the TV-D2 mission, finalising ground communication networks, recovery assets and a crew-recovery plan. The first uncrewed experimental flight carrying the Vyommitra half-humanoid is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026, with two additional uncrewed missions planned for 2027 before the inaugural crewed orbital mission.