India’s first human spacelift program ‘Project Gaganyaan’ has received a budget hurdle for this year.
As the reports say, the Government of India has approved only 30 percent of the project funds ISRO expected under the Budget FY 2020-21.
However, the ISRO authorities have expressed the possibility of working out around the approved budget.
ISRO has reportedly placed a Rs. 4,357 crore budget for the Project Gaganyaan in its budget estimates, and the government has now approved Rs. 1,200 crore.
“The Gaganyaan programme is a prestigious national endeavor with global significance. But the budgetary allocation for 2020-21 does not reflect this importance,” ISRO said in a statement.
It further sought extension of the project budget by another Rs. 3,000 crore during the revised estimated stage.
The total cost of the project, as approved by the Union Cabinet in December 2018, is Rs. 10,000 crore.
ISRO has already begun working on hardware realization for ground test and the first unmanned mission, along with space training of elected astronauts in Russia.
In coordination with the French space agency, a three-week special training program has been held for the flight surgeon.
A series of tests will also be held before the launch of the first, of the two, unmanned flight scheduled for 2020 end.
ISRO projects Rs.24, 686 crore as the budget demand for 2020-21, while it was allotted only Rs. 13,479 crore.
‘Project Gaganyaan’ in Brief
This is the country’s first human spacelift programme that the Prime Minister announced in his last independence day speech. As the first such indigenous mission, the program aims to take 3 Indian astronauts to space on a crewed orbital spacecraft for at least 7 days by 2022.
The orbital module developed by ISRO is the combination of a service module and crew module. With this project implementation, India becomes the fourth nation to have send humans to space.
More ‘ISRO’ News:
- ISRO’s First Crewed Mission: Humanoid Robot ‘Vyommitra’ Into Space!
- Gsat-30: ISRO’s First Satellite in 2020 Launched!
