ISRO to launch three crew missions before Gaganyaan launch

ISRO chief Dr V Narayanan, said his team is working hard to ensure that the Gaganyaan mission is launched by March 2027, as scheduled.

Chennai: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) plans to conduct three uncrewed missions, including one with a humanoid robot, to test systems before launching Gaganyaan, the country’s first human spaceflight programme, Isro chief Dr V Narayanan said here on Monday.

Narayanan, speaking to reporters at Chennai Airport on his way to Sriharikota for the launch of NISAR on Wednesday, said Isro is working hard to ensure that the Gaganyaan mission is launched by March 2027, as scheduled.

“We have planned three uncrewed missions, the first of which will be launched in December this year when we will send a humanoid, called Vyommitra, to space. If the mission is successful, we will proceed with two other uncrewed missions in 2026, ahead of the final launch in 2027,” he added.

The Isro chief said Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubanshu Shukla’s journey to the International Space Station (ISS) will be very helpful in planning the Gaganyaan mission. “With Shukla’s mission, our knowledge of space has been significantly enriched,” he said.

Speaking about the delay in the Ax-04 mission that carried Shukla and three others to the ISS, Narayanan said Isro engineers played a critical role in ensuring its success.

NISAR, an ambitious joint mission by Nasa and Isro, aims to measure Earth’s changing ecosystems, dynamic surfaces, and ice masses—providing vital data on biomass, natural hazards, and groundwater. It will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 30.

NISAR carries two radars: the L-band radar, developed by Isro, and the S-band radar by Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The integrated system was tested at the U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru before being transported to Sriharikota.