After all, why was the launch date of Gaganyan Mission postponed to 2025? Know why ISRO took this big decision

Science News Desk – The country’s first astronaut mission Gaganyaan has been postponed to 2026. This mission was to be launched next year. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chief S Somnath has informed about postponing the Gaganyaan mission by a year. He said several uncrewed test flights would be conducted before the country’s astronaut missions to space. Due to some recent failures in the aerospace industry, ISRO is very cautious about the preparations for the Gaganyaan mission.

After the launch of this mission, India will become the fourth country to send astronauts to space after America, Russia and China. Reasons for postponing the mission include ISRO’s extensive training process and the addition of a fourth uncrewed flight. In the Gaganyaan mission, one or two astronauts will be taken into low Earth orbit, about 400 kilometers above the Earth. Due to a technical glitch in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, the return of US space agency NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed till February next year.

In June this year, Williams and his fellow astronaut Wilmore reached the ISS on a mission of just eight days. However, his return had to be postponed due to a technical fault in the Starliner. ISRO has also learned from this matter. ISRO has conducted several tests to enhance the safety of the Gaganyaan mission. These include assessment of emergency evacuation arrangements and recovery arrangements.

Crew training for the Gaganyaan mission is going on in the country as well as abroad. Indian Air Force test pilot Shubhanshu Shukla is also among the astronauts training for this mission. It will test flight re-entry, use of parachute and controlled splashdown in the Bay of Bengal. After G1, three more unmanned flights will complete the test phase of the Gaganyaan mission.