BulletsIn

• ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said “vigorous, systematic work” is underway to launch the Gaganyaan programme’s first uncrewed mission, G1, within this calendar year.
• Six more ISRO launches, including the navigation satellite NVS-03, are targeted for the remainder of this financial year.
• The G1 mission will carry Vyommitra, a half-humanoid robot with female features, seated in the crew position of the capsule.
• Vyommitra is designed to monitor module parameters, issue alerts, execute life-support operations, read instrument panels, and manipulate switches during flight.
• Vyommitra’s performance will validate the Environmental Control and Life Support System that keeps the cabin’s oxygen, temperature, and pressure safe for future astronauts.
• The uncrewed flight will use the Human-Rated LVM3 (HLVM3) rocket, a modified version of ISRO’s heaviest launcher nicknamed “Bahubali.”
• ISRO completed a ground test of the Sub-Orbital Launch Vehicle for Experiments (SOLVE) on July 3, 2026, validating the sequential deployment of ten parachutes for crew module re-entry.
• Further Gaganyaan crew module systems tests were completed on July 12, 2026, according to Press Information Bureau records.
• ISRO has reported more than 7,700 ground and structural tests completed for the programme, with additional tests planned before the uncrewed launch.
• Three uncrewed missions, G1, G2, and G3, are planned to validate safety systems before the first crewed flight, H1, currently indicated for the first quarter of 2027.
• Four Indian Air Force pilots, Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap, and Shubhanshu Shukla, have been selected as astronaut-designates and are undergoing mission-specific training.
• ISRO’s longer-term roadmap includes the Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035 and a crewed lunar landing targeted for 2040.