And meanwhile, India is testing an engine for human spaceflight

As European politicians dither over whether to fund an autonomous manned flight program, India is set to become the fourth space power capable of sending humans into space. A fine technological performance for a State which does not have the same financial power as Europe, lagging behind which tends to be reduced in a few key technological areas.

Initially, the Indian Space Agency planned to send one or two astronauts Indians on the occasion of the 75^and anniversary of Indian independence in 2022. But, the Covid-19 crisis forced the country to postpone this inaugural flight to 2024. This will be preceded by two unmanned flights scheduled for the first and fourth quarters of 2023, each of which will carry a robot humanoid equipped with sensors. The capsule will join a orbit 400 km for a 7-day flight, before landing in the Arabian Sea off Ahmedabad.

Much less publicized than NasaI’ESA or the space agencies of Russia and China, the Indian Space Agency continues its program of manned flights started several years ago. Gaganyaan, this is the name of this program, has already carried out several tests including the suborbital flight, with atmospheric re-entry, of a prototype capsule (without an astronaut) of 3.7 tonnes (Care in 2014) followed four years later by the test of a rescue tower with a model of a 12.6 ton capsule. Note also the flight of the experimental capsule SRE-1 in 2007, which lasted 12 days in orbit.

A version of the launcher for robotic exploration missions qualified for human spaceflight

A few days ago, theisro successfully carried out a static test of a thruster back-up to propellant strong for the Gaganyaan program. This booster tested is the manned flight version of the S200 thruster which equips the launcher GSLV MkIII. In this configuration, it is named HS200. The test lasted 135 seconds which is the duration operation of the first of the three stages of the GSLV Mk III.

Rather than developing an entirely new launcher specifically dedicated to manned flights, India preferred to develop a manned-qualified version of the GSLV Mk III. This launcher, commissioned in 2017, is capable of launching 10 tonnes into low orbit and 4 tonnes into a transfer orbit geostationary. He notably launched the lunar missions Chandrayaan 2 and 3 and should launch a probe bound for Venus (Shukrayaan-1) and Mangalyaan 2, second mission bound for Mars.

India wants to send people into space by 2022

Article of Remy Decourt published on 08/16/2018

What will be the fourth nation to send its astronauts into space on its own? Certainly not Europe, which prefers to cooperate in international programs, nor Japan, which is technologically lagging behind in this field. It should be India that has the political will to do this and is gradually acquiring the technologies to do so. Its Prime Minister has just set a target. It will be 2022!

After the USSR, the United States and China, will India be the fourth nation to send men into space by its own means? Yes, if we rely on the speech to the Nation that the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has just given on the occasion of Independence Day. Beyond the political will, which other grounded countries lack, India also has the financial and technological capacity to achieve this feat.

In view of the latest technological advances of Isro (the Indian space agency), and if we compare its program to that of China implemented to send its first taikonaut in space (Shenzhou 5, October 2003), the 2022 deadline seems optimistic to us. Especially since two unmanned demonstration and test flights are planned before the manned flight. This first manned mission will certainly see a crew of two or three gaganautes (name given to Indian astronauts), with perhaps a woman, staying in orbit around the Earth for a short week.

Over the past ten years, India has been acquiring and mastering critical technologies for manned flight (return from orbit, atmospheric re-entry, heat shield, etc.). If the effort continues, there is little doubt that by 2025, it will manage to send gaganauts into space.

Steps taken successfully

In 2007, the Isro successfully used a atmospheric re-entry capsule (SRE-1 mission) after a stay of several days in space in a circular then elliptical orbit of 485 x 639 km. In 2014, she launched a demonstrator of a manned capsule weighing more than 3.7 tons, measuring 3.1 meters in diameter and 2.7 meters in height. Baptized Care, for Crew module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment, this capsule was large enough for a crew of three. In early July, the crew’s emergency evacuation system was successfully tested during the capsule extraction test in the event of a problem on the launch pad.

Finally, India has opened a training center for gagnauts in Bangalore with the aim of training and preparing at least four of them so that at least two of them, or even three, can perform an orbital flight lasting several days.

India wants men in space and a reusable launcher

Article by Rémy Decourt published on 06/01/2012

India, Asia’s other emerging space power, wants to do as well as its cumbersome neighbour, China. Even better. Its ambitions are high: to launch a manned flight before the end of the decade and to create a reusable satellite launch system, in short, an unmanned shuttle.

If manufacturers in the space sector and most space agencies are directly or indirectly interested in the reusability of launchers, India is the only country that is betting on everything reusable to access space. However, it has a family of pitchers that largely meets its needs. Currently, it is developing a reusable two-stage launcher of the TSTO (Two Stage To Orbit) type which will look like a spaceship. No launch date has been announced but it is assumed that a demonstrator could be flight tested this year. Another project related to reusability, the SRE orbit return capsule (Space capsule Recovery Experiment) designed to fly experiments (50 kg) in weightlessnessthen bring them back to the ground.

Europe has decided that the next generation launcher (NGL) which will replace the current family Ariadneby 2025, will not be reusable.

All reusable, a false good idea?

This idea of ​​reusability could quickly become a dead end. On paper, the use of a launcher reusable has something to seduce all the more so as its reliability increases thanks to the progressive correction of defects encountered on the equipment as it is used.

For many, however, it is still too early to embark on the development ofreusable floors capable of significant performance. The technologies required for this type of floor are only partially assimilated. As for today’s launchers, their design makes it impossible to envisage the reuse of materials. In particular those used for thermal protection and construction floors.

Indians soon in space?

The reuse of a floor is a real logistical headache and, as a result, an economic nonsense. Between its recovery, on land or on the high seas, the restoration, its certificate for flight and its integration into the launcher, reuse proves to be longer and more costly than a consumable stage built in around ten copies each year. The example of the space shuttle is instructive. The only partially reusable operational system (the ventral tank and the boosters were lost), it required several months of overhaul between two flights when it had to perform dozens of flights a year!

Another major program is the sending of gaganautes (the name given to Indian astronauts) into space. Despite a halt in its space program, due to failures in 2010, India reaffirms that it will be ready to launch two astronauts on its own by the end of this decade. They will fly aboard a homemade space capsule launched by a qualified GSLV for human flight. With this in mind, Isro has opened an astronaut training center in Bangalore. The objective is to prepare at least four of them so that two of them perform an orbital flight lasting several days.