Mission Gaganyaan update: ISRO says TV-D1 test flight scheduled for Saturday morning

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday provided an update on Mission Gaganyaan by saying that its TV-D1 test flight has been scheduled for Saturday morning. 

"The TV-D1 test flight is scheduled for October 21, 2023 between 7 am and 9 am from SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota," posted ISRO on X platform (formerly Twitter).

The Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of the human spaceflight capability by launching a human crew to an orbit of 400 km and bringing them safely back to earth by landing in Indian sea waters.

The test vehicle development flight (TV-D1) will be conducted at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh to test the crew module that is scheduled to house Indian astronauts during the human spaceflight late next year.

TV-D1 involves launching the crew module to outer space, bringing it back to earth and recovering it after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal.