Huge budget cut for new human spaceflight program in India

The Indian Space Research Organization has finally come to the point where they are able to launch a space flight that would be able to travel quite far from the earth and provide a significant role in discovering new things in the space. Recently India has launched a program that would be able to send humans into space by their technology and astronauts.

Sadly, there were huge budget cuts for new human spaceflight program in India. But even after the news, India is still undergoing the program as scheduled even though a lot of its funding was cut short, at least for the time being. According to the Times of India, around 30%of the budget is left behind from the previously discussed budget for the human space flight program by the Indian Space Research Organization.

The program is named Gaganyaan, which will now be working with very tight funding, but ISRO is hopeful that they would be able to work through with it. India would be the fourth country after the USA, Russia, and China to be able to achieve the goal of sending their astronauts in space.

Impact on Gaganyaan after Huge budget cut for new human spaceflight program in India

Even though there were huge budget cuts for new human spaceflight program in India, Gaganyaan will work as scheduled.  The program has been meticulously designed to three individuals to travel in space for a time duration of five to seven days. This journey will be travelling in a spacecraft, which is roughly 10 feet by 11 feet in diameter. The 2020-21 budget estimate that was recorded for Gaganyaan is around $639 million as compared to the actual amount which was supposed to be allotted for the human spaceflight program was $180 million.

Still, due to huge budget cuts for new human spaceflight program in India, it was not possible by the Indian Space Regulatory Organization as it covers about one-third of the organization’s budget.  India’s Parliamentary committee held a meeting on March 9, 2020, to review the funding and finding a solution that would bring the allocated funding back to its original level. However, the confirmation regarding its implementation is still unclear.

Launch date of Gaganyaan

To fully equip Gaganyaan, the space flight program requires $1.5 billion to be able to fully function and be ready to launch by August 15, 2020, which is the Independence Day of India. As there are huge budget cuts for new human spaceflight program in India, the only two ways this could be compensated is either by delaying the launch event of the space mission or by reducing and making cutbacks inside the program to compensate for the reduced amount of funding.

After the huge budget cuts for new human spaceflight program in India, ISRO is planning to conduct a robotic spaceflight mission on the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket in late 2020 or early 2021. July 2021 is being targeted for preparing the second test flight for Gaganyaan. If these test flights undergo according to the schedule, humans would be able to travel to space by the end of 2021.

The success of this spaceflight mission would provide a global platform for India, and this would affect its growth and economic stability in the worldwide market.

Crew selection process and space training

The crew selection process has started even after huge budget cuts for new human spaceflight program in India with the help of the Indian Air force and the Institute of Space Medicine. The crew selection process is undergoing its initial stage and is set to complete soon. Once the individuals are selected, they will be sent to a Russian facility for space training. ISRO has already contacted for the selection of crews, training, and medical examinations.

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