Unmanned Gaganyaan mission postponed due to Corona, will not fly this year

New Delhi: India's ambitious Gaganyaan project ready to fly unmanned has been postponed. Gaganyaan will now fly in 2021, as ISRO has changed its plans due to Covid-19. The mission was originally scheduled for later this year. A senior ISRO scientist said: "As per the plans given to us, Gaganyaan unmanned flight is not in this year's schedule.

The scientist said that by extending unmanned flight to possibly next year, the hypothesis of sending humans to space by 2022 will be affected. ISRO Chairman K.K. Sivan said, 'With the current circumstances, the unmanned flight may not be possible this year. We are planning about five to six missions, including the GiSAT-1 whose launch was postponed earlier this year. Details of these missions will be made public later.

As per ISRO's prepared plans for Gaganyaan, two unmanned flights are to be made before the human flight which will test all systems before sending humans onboard. Now, the postponement of the first unmanned flight would mean that ISRO would have to undertake two unmanned missions next year.

Sivan said, "Our plan is to carry the humanoids in unmanned flights. We have to decide what happens in the coming months - will we launch two unmanned missions next year, which will depend on the emerging conditions? If the Covid influence continues even further, we may have to push some of our plans again ".