PM Modi, Kharge congratulates ISRO for success of Gaganyaan test flight mission

New Delhi, Oct 21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday congratulated the team of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the success of Gaganyaan test flight mission.

“This launch takes us one step closer to realising India’s first human space flight program, Gaganyaan. My best wishes to our scientists at ISRO,” Modi said in a post on X.

Congress President in a post on X said, “Our best wishes to all the scientists, space engineers, crew and researchers at ISRO for the success of Gaganyaan test flight mission (TV-D1).”

“India’s human space flight program has been in the works since 2007 and after decades of rigorous hard work and dedication we are advancing towards that goal,” he added.

Minister for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said, “Kudos ISRO, for successfully accomplishing maiden Test Vehicle Flight TV-D1. This is the first step in the last leg of journey towards India’s Crewed Human Spacecraft mission Gaganyaan. In the enabling milieu provided by PM Narendra Modi, ISRO achieving one success after the other and the next important one is the Gaganyaan.”

The remarks came after the ISRO on Saturday successfully flight tested the crew escape system, crew module that would carry the country's astronauts sometime in 2025.

The mission was called Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1).

Announcing the mission’s success ISRO Chairman S.Somanath said: “The TV-D1 mission was to demonstrate the crew escape system for Gaganyaan (the name for Indian human space mission).”

He said the parachutes opened and the crew module touched down on the Bay of Bengal at the required velocity.