Bengaluru, Jan 11: India's maiden manned space mission 'Gaganyaan' is set for December 2021 launch and is likely to include a woman astronaut, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K Sivan said Friday.
Gearing up for the mission, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ISRO has set up a new centre to facilitate the manned voyage involving a three-member crew, he said.
"We have put everything in place. Gaganyaan has highest priority for 2019. We are planning to have first unmanned mission in December 2020 and second for July 2021. Once we complete this the manned mission will happen in December 2021. The entire team is geared up to achieve this target," Sivan said.
The Union Cabinet gave its nod for the Rs 9,023 crore programme recently, he said, briefing reporters about the achievements of the city-headquartered ISRO in the previous year and the future programmes.
In his Independence Day address last year, Modi had announced that the mission would be undertaken by 2022 using ISRO's own capabilities.
"We have resolved that by 2022, when India celebrates 75 years of Independence or maybe even before that, certainly some of our young boys and girls will unfurl the Tricolour in space," he had said in his speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
To a question, the ISRO chief said, "We want women astronauts also should be there. That is our aim. In my opinion, we have to train both men and women. The PM has told brother and sister (boys and girls). We will be happy to do that but it involves training and other things."
He said a major expansion was in the offing with the launch of Gaganyaan.
"There are two aspects to Gaganyaan engineering and human. This is a major expansion because it is not only launching human into the space but a space station. Human programme is a major turning point," Sivan said.
He said the objective of the mission is to carry a three-member crew to low earth orbit and return them safely to a predefined destination on earth.
Sivan said ISRO has launched the Human Space Flight Centre to take care of all the things related to the manned space programme.
The centre will have senior scientist Unnikrishnan Nair as its director while the project director would be Dr R Hutton, the ISRO chief said.
He said the crew members for Gaganyaan would be from India and include one from the Indian Air Force.
Gaganyaan initial training will be in the country but advanced training might be abroad, maybe in Russia, Sivan said.
On successful completion of the mission, India would become the fourth nation in the world to achieve the feat, he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Three-time Congress MLA and former minister Surendra Singh Bhoi resigned from the primary membership of the party after 38 years and joined the ruling BJD on Friday.
Two BJP leaders Nilgiri MLA Sukant Nayak and the party's Cuttack district president Prakash Chandra Behera - also resigned from their party and are likely to join the BJD.
In a letter to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Surendra Singh Bhoi said he has resigned from the post of Bolangir district Congress committee (DCC) president as well as the party.
"I beg to say here that due to personal reasons I would like to resign from the primary membership, and the post of president DCC, Bolangir as well as AICC membership. With great honour, I thank you for giving me an opportunity to serve the party and my state for 38 years with passion, dedication and discipline," he said in the letter.
He joined the BJD at Sankha Bhawan, the headquarters of the ruling party.
BJP MLA Sukant Nayak also resigned from the party.
In a letter to Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal, the Nilgiri MLA said, "I do hereby tender my resignation on today (i.e 29.03.2024) from the primary membership of Bharatiya Janata Party. The same may please be accepted."
Nayak was elected to the assembly in 2014 on BJD ticket from Nilgiri. He, however, switched over to BJP in 2019 and also won the seat. He has now decided to return to the party from where he started his electoral journey, BJD sources said.
Former Chitrakonda MLA & BJD leader Dambaru Sisa also resigned from the primary membership of the party on Thursday.
In his letter to BJD president Naveen Patnaik, Sisa said, "My aim and purpose remain the same as it has always been from the very beginning to serve the people of the state and the constituency. I believe I am unable to do this anymore in this party. So to meet the aspirations of my people and my workers, I believe it is best to look forward to a fresh start."
The development came a day after Cuttack MP Bhatruhari Mahtab and ex-MP Siddharth Mohapatra joined BJP in Delhi on Thursday. Mahtab had resigned from BJD on March 22.
Lok Sabha and assembly elections will be held simultaneously in Odisha in four phases between May 13 and June 1.