Woman robot astronaut ‘Vyommitra’ will fly into space ahead of ISRO’s ambitious ‘Gaganyaan’ mission, which will be India’s first human manned Space Flight carrying Indian Astronauts into Space, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh informed here on Sunday.

Disclosing this in New Delhi during an interaction with media, Dr Singh said, the uncrewed “Vyommitra” Mission is scheduled for the third quarter of this year while a manned mission “Gaganyaan” is scheduled to be launched next year, that is 2025.

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“Vyommitra” is a name derived from two Sanskrit words namely, “Vyoma” (meaning Space) and “Mitra” (meaning Friend). This Female Robot Astronaut, said the Minister, is equipped with the capability to monitor Module Parameters, issue Alerts and execute Life Support operations. It can perform tasks such as operating six panels and responding to the queries, he explained.

Dr Singh further elaborated that “Vyommitra” Astronaut is designed in such a manner so as to simulate human functions in the Space environment and interact with the Life Support System.

Pertinent to mention that as a run up to the launch of India’s first-ever manned Space flight named “Gaganyaan”, the first Test Vehicle Flight TV D1 was accomplished on 21st October last year. This was meant to qualify the crew escape system and parachute system.The human rating of the launch vehicle is complete. All the propulsion stages are qualified. All the preparations are in place.

While the uncrewed unmanned Robot Flight “Vyommitra” will take place this year, “Gaganyaan” will be launched next year.

The Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human space capabilities by launching a crew of astronauts into an orbit of 400 Kilometres and then bringing back these human astronauts safely to earth by landing them in India’s sea waters.

Meanwhile, Dr Singh informed that Chandrayaan 3, which landed on the South Pole of the Moon on August 23 last year, is following its normal expected course of action. The vital inputs sent by it will be shared in course of time.