The Gaganyaan Mission is India’s maiden Human Spaceflight Programme spearheaded by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is a technology demonstration project designed to send a crew of three members to a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) of 400 km for a duration of three days and return them safely to Earth via a splashdown in Indian sea waters.
Formally announced by the Prime Minister on August 15, 2018, the mission aims to establish India as the fourth nation to launch an indigenous crewed orbital mission, following the USA, Russia, and China. The mission utilizes the LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3), India’s heaviest rocket, which has been "human-rated" to meet safety standards. The spacecraft consists of an Orbital Module, which integrates a Crew Module (CM)—the pressurized habitable space for astronauts—and a Service Module (SM) providing propulsion and power. Critical safety features include the Crew Escape System (CES) for emergency extraction and the Integrated Main Parachute System.
For the UPSC Exam, this topic is central to GS Paper III (Science and Technology) and Prelims. Key technical elements include Vyommitra (a female-looking humanoid robot for uncrewed test flights), the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS), and the Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1). Related concepts include the Indian Space Policy 2023, the role of IN-SPACe in private sector integration, and India’s long-term goals of establishing the Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035 and landing a human on the Moon by 2040. International cooperation is also significant, notably the training of "Gaganauts" at Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and collaboration with NASA for a joint mission to the ISS.