SPACE India’s human spaceflight programme
A tryst with destiny
ATUL CHANDRA reports on how India is powering ahead with its human spaceflight mission.
An uprated version of ISRO’s GSLV MkIII launcher will be used for Gaganyaan missions. India is powering ahead with its most ambitious scientific undertaking yet, one that will allow it to join ranks with Russia, the US and China, in a select club of nations to have launched a human spaceflight mission.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is significantly advanced in its preparations for ‘Gaganyaan’ – Sanskrit for ‘Sky Craft’ as the Indian human spaceflight mission is known. However, these launches will now be delayed by at least a year, if not more, because of restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Work on India’s human spaceflight mission has been underway for quite some time. ISRO initiated initial studies in 2004, however, it is only over the last decade that real progress was made.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Gaganyaan mission during his 15 August Independence Day address in 2018, sparking off a nationwide effort, now spread across more than 650 companies and agencies. Two uncrewed space missions, Gaganyaan 1 and 2, were originally planned for December 2021 and July 2021, respectively. The first crewed space mission was planned for December 2021.
A giant leap for India
ISRO’s new Human space flight centre (HSFC), helmed by its Director, Dr S Unnikrishnan Nair and located in Bengaluru, is the hub for all human spaceflight-related activities. A future Indian space station is also planned. The spin-offs from the human space flight missions, such as development of the human-rated Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV MkIII), orbital crew module, life support systems, etc will aid in the progress of the space station programme. Initial information provided by the space agency, suggests a modular space station designed for a crew of three.
ISRO has been buoyed by government support and funding for the Gaganyaan mission which has been plentiful, with a budgetary allocation of approximately Rs100bn (or just over £1bn). A total of three Indian astronauts are planned to be sent into space with a duration of seven days set as the maximum mission length. The crewed orbiter will be inserted into a 400km low Earth orbit, by the GSLV MkIII, ISRO’s heaviest launcher yet. All launches for the Gaganyaan programme will take place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), located at Sriharikota on India’s eastern seaboard.
A new challenge
ISRO’s unpiloted missions will test the launcher, crew module and other associated technologies destined for human spaceflight. In January 2020, the space agency unveiled a half-humanoid robot that would be part of both unmanned space missions. Named ‘Vyommitra’ – Sanskrit for ‘space friend’, the half humanoid will be capable of speaking two languages, performing environment control and life support systems (ECLSS) functions, operating switches aboard the spacecraft and recognising voice commands.
Russia’s Glavkosmos is training Indian astronauts at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Glavkosmos ISRO has a depth of experience with regards to launch vehicles and spacecraft management with access to extensive infrastructure in terms of launch pads, ground tracking stations. It also has a nationwide space technology ecosystem for manufacture of launchers and satellites. However, crewed space flight represented an altogether new endeavour with aspects such as crew safety, human rating of existing systems, crew training and recovery, all being areas, where ISRO lacked previous experience.
It is for this reason, that ISRO turned to Glavkosmos (the foreign economic activities division of Russia’s Roscosmos State Space Corporation) in June 2019, for assistance on selection support, medical examination and space training of the four selected astronauts (all air force pilots). ISRO and Glavkosmos share a longstanding relationship. Glavkosmos, which was set up in 1985, completed successful launches of Indian remote sensing satellites IRS-1A, IRS-1B, and IRS-1C from Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soviet and Russian Vostok launch vehicles (1988, 1991) and on the Molniya (Lightning) in 1995.
Crew preparation
The four Indian astronauts are now nearing the end of their 12-month training programme at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC), which is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2021. The training provided to Indian astronauts included extensive training on the structure, configuration, and systems of the Soyuz MS crewed spacecraft, among other things.
ISRO’s C25 Cryogenic upper stage configured with the fully indigenous high thrust CE20 cryogenic engine made its first flight on the LVM3-X/CARE Mission in December 2014. ISRO
“To date, the Indian cosmonauts have passed a number of exams and tests, and have completed training on crew actions in the event of an abnormal descent module landing in various climatic and geographical zones. They also passed training in short-term weightlessness mode and they were trained to lift aboard a helicopter while evacuating from the descent module landing point,” Dmitry Loskutov, Director General of Glavkosmos told the author via email.
The training of crew actions in the event of an abnormal descent module landing, was completed in three distinct phases: abnormal descent module landing in wooded and marshy areas in winter (February 2020), on the water surface (June 2020) and in the Steppe in summer (July 2020). Shortterm weightlessness training for the Indian space crew was completed over the course of ten flights aboard an Ilyushin IL-76 MDK laboratory aircraft in June 2020. The astronauts are also receiving training at GCTC for a sustained spaceflight environment in a centrifuge and a hyperbaric chamber to prepare themselves for G-loads, hypoxia and pressure drops.
Russia is also supplying Soyuz spacecraft systems and components to India, which ISRO will adapt and modify for further use on the Gaganyaan mission. The Soyuz MS made its first flight in 2016 and is substantially upgraded, with almost every system of the crewed spacecraft being modernised.
Glavkosmos is also supplying Sokol-KV-2 spacesuits for the Indian human spaceflight mission. The spacesuits are designed to protect spacecraft crew members in case of descent module depressurisation during the most dangerous phases of the mission – ascent, docking, undocking and descent. The Sokol-KV-2 is a soft-type spacesuit, with multilayer coveralls, an integrated soft helmet, soft bootees, and removable gloves. The spacesuit enclosure consists of an outer restraint layer and an internal pressure bladder. The spacesuits (as well as seat liners) are custom-made for each individual astronaut and provide the crew member with a comfortable position when seated. The spacesuits are not reusable.
At home in space
Development of the crew module for the Gaganyaan missions has been accorded the highest priority at ISRO. While its external configuration was finalised quite some time ago, work on its internal configuration is slated for completion shortly. Critical technologies related to the crew module systems, Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS) and Crew Escape System (CES) have now been mastered. The development of vital technologies, including the CES, was completed by ISRO at a cost of only Rs1.7bn. The CES makes use of specially designed, quick acting solid motors that provide a relatively large thrust in a short space of time to transport the crew module safely away from the launcher in case of an accident.
A successful CES demonstration took place in July 2018, when a ‘Pad Abort Test’ was carried out from SDSC, Sriharikota. ISRO successfully undertook testing of the crew module configuration along with its re-entry and recovery characteristics during an experimental launch of the GSLV Mklll in December 2014. The crew module is manufactured by state-owned aerospace firm, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which is also a major partner in the Gaganyaan programme.
An image of ISRO’s crew module following splash down near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in December 2014 as part of the Crew module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE). ISRO
Launch ability
The launcher for Gaganyaan missions will be ISRO’s GSLV MkIII launcher. The GSLV MkIII is the effort of more than two decades of sweat and toil taken to develop an indigenous heavy-lift launcher. Development of the GSLV MkIII was approved in 2002 with the aim to provide an indigenous launcher, that could deliver a 4,000kg class satellite to geosynchronous orbit. The development programme resulted in three successful flights: LVM3-X (December 2014), GSLV MkIII D1 (June 2017) and GSLV MkIII D2 (November 2018). In its first operational launch in July 2019, a GSLV MkIII-M1 placed the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into Earth parking orbit. ISRO obtained Government approval to build ten more GSLV MkIII launchers in June 2018 to be used for communication satellite launches untill 2023.
Design verification for the human rating of the GSLV MkIII has been completed. ISRO’s most powerful launcher does have the requisite payload carrying capacity to deliver a crewed orbital module into the desired elliptical orbit. However, it will also receive more powerful engines to increase its payload capacity from 4,000kg to 6,500kg. The launcher for the Gaganyaan 1 uncrewed mission is currently under construction at HAL, which is also supplying riveted assemblies along with propellant tanks.
India originally inked an agreement with Glavkosmos in 1991 for supply of a batch of cryogenic oxygen-hydrogen blocks ‘12 KRB’ along with technology transfer. The knowledge gained from Russia, was intended for use on the GSLV’s upper stage. However, transfer of this technology to India was halted due to US sanctions. A later, revised agreement allowed India to receive seven cryogenic oxygen-hydrogen blocks ready for flight. Glavkosmos would also assist ISRO in their preparation and launch. “Since last year, our co-operation with ISRO has received a new impetus due to the development of the Indian crewed space programme Gaganyaan, as well as in our work on some other projects,” Lustkov says. Russia has also supplied cryogenic test equipment for testing of Indian cryogenic rocket stages, which take place at ISRO’s test center located at Mahendragiri, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Tasks related to development and qualification of an indigenous semi-cryogenic stage and an uprated cryogenic engine and stage, have been underway for some time at ISRO and were originally slated for completion by 2021. HAL will manufacture these cryogenic and semi-cryogenic engines and is establishing facilities for their productionisation.
Escape velocity for the private sector
Over the last two decades, ISRO has mastered the design and development of a series of increasingly complex launchers and satellites, not only for Indian customers but also for a growing list of export customers. Between 2014-2019, the Indian space agency launched satellites from 26 countries, earning revenues of Rs10.2bn. ISRO’s workhorse launcher, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), has launched 319 foreign satellites belonging to 33 countries into orbit since 1999 and the 100th PSLV mission is planned for 2024, an impressive achievement indeed.
ISRO had targeted 36 launch missions in 202021, including an uncrewed Gaganyaan 1 launch. Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted these plans, however it has become increasingly evident, that for ISRO is to meet its ambitious future launch targets, greater participation from India’s private sector and their growth would need priority.
Important steps are now being taken within the country to open the space sector, hitherto, an almost exclusive preserve of government agencies. In June 2020, the Indian Government announced the launch of the Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (INSPACe). The new entity will be the nodal agency to promote innovation and encourage private investment in the space sector. INSPACe will allow Indian private sector firms, access to ISRO’s extensive infrastructure. Greater access and utilisation of such facilities, built at great cost to the Indian taxpayer, is a step in the right direction. NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) another new entity incorporated in March 2019, will facilitate private sector firms to bid for manufacture of launch vehicles and satellites, provide launch services and develop space-based services and systems. NSIL will also manage transfer of space technologies developed by ISRO and other government agencies to private sector entities
Gaganyaan and follow-on Indian missions, could provide the critical mass for India’s space industries to thrive and grow. These companies will also benefit from another revolution; availability of high-end computing, high-speed broadband internet, and access to disruptive technologies such as additive manufacturing which have lowered the traditional entry barriers into the space business. Systemic changes are essential if India is to unlock the true potential of its space economy, which today contributes an estimated 45,000 jobs across the country, yet with the potential to employ many more.