Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced on Sunday that Vyommitra, the female robot astronaut from India, will launch into space ahead of ISRO’s ambitious “Gaganyaan” mission. The unmanned Vyommitra Mission is slated to launch in the third quarter of this year, while the manned mission Gaganyaan—the nation’s first manned space flight carrying Indian astronauts—is scheduled to launch in 2025, according to the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology.
The half-humanoid known as “Vyommitra” of the Indian Space Research Organisation gets its name from two Sanskrit words: “Vyoma” (which means space) and “Mitra” (which means friend).
The Minister claimed that this female robot astronaut was capable of monitoring module parameters, sending out alerts, and carrying out life support procedures.
“It can perform tasks such as operating six panels and responding to the queries,” he explained.
Dr. Jitendra Singh went on to explain that the astronaut named “Vyommitra” is made to mimic human functions in space and communicate with the life support system.
Notably, on October 21, last year, the first test vehicle, Flight TV D1, was completed ahead of the “Gaganyaan” launch.
The purpose of this was to validate the crew escape and parachute systems. An official announcement states that all the necessary arrangements have been made, the launch vehicle’s human rating is complete, and all propulsion stages are qualified.
The unmanned robotic flight “Vyommitra” is scheduled for this year, while “Gaganyaan” is scheduled for launch the following year.
The goal of the Gaganyaan project is to demonstrate human space capabilities by sending a team of astronauts into a 400-kilometer orbit and returning them safely to Earth by landing them in the seas off the coast of India.
Chandrayaan 3, which touched down on the Moon’s South Pole on August 23 of last year, is proceeding as planned, according to Dr. Jitendra Singh. Over time, the crucial inputs that it sent will be shared.
