First test flight of Gagayaan mission rocket likely in Dec : ISRO Chief

Talking to reporters after the successful launch of SSLV-D3/EOS08 mission, he said first test flight of the rocket for the first human flight mission Gaganyaan was expected to happen in December.

The three stages of the vehicle has reached SDSC, SHAR and the crew module was being integrated at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Thiruvananthapuram.

All the systems for the Gaganyaan rocket, which was code named G1, will reach the SHAR Range in November this year and ISRO is targetting the first test flight in December this year.

To a question, Mr Somanath said construction work has started for building the Second Rocket Launch facility at Kulasekarapattinam in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu.

It was expected to be commissioned in two years.

About the success of today's SSLV-D3 mission, he said “the third developmental flight of SSLV, has been successfully accomplished. The rocket has placed the satellites in a very precise orbit as planned and there are no deviations in the injection conditions. The solar panels are deployed".

With the completion of the final developmental flight, the SSLV technology will now be transferred to the industry.

With today's accomplishment, SSLV has entered the operational phase. This mission completes the SSLV Development Project and enables operational missions by Indian industry and NSIL.

“We are on the process of transfer of the technology of the SSLV to the industry for serial production and launch of SSLV. This is a great beginning,” Mr Somanath said.

It may be noted that the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) had announced last year the ISRO’s decision to transfer the SSLV technology to private players.

The process of selecting the industry or the consortium of industries was on and it will take about two years for the selected party to learn and roll out the SSLVs, the ISRO Chief said.