Gaganyaan Mission: Where will ISRO get spacesuits for Indian astronauts?

India is gearing up for a significant milestone with the Gaganyaan mission, its first-ever manned spaceflight. ISRO is making crucial decisions regarding the spacesuits for Indian astronauts.

ISRO has been working on its Intra Vehicular Activity (IVA) suits, designed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. However, documents suggest that for safety reasons, Russian-made spacesuits might be the preferred choice.

Despite progress on the indigenous suits, ISRO is leaning towards Plan A, opting for Russian spacesuits for the Gaganyaan mission. This decision is rooted in programmatic requirements and a commitment to ensuring Indian astronauts' safety.

ISRO chairman S Somanath announced that 2024 is slated to be the "year for Gaganyaan." The coming months will witness multiple tests and demonstrations to showcase India's human spaceflight capabilities.

The Gaganyaan mission aims to launch a crew of three members into orbit at 400 km for a three-day mission. The focus is on demonstrating ISRO's capability in human spaceflight and ensuring the safe return of the astronauts.

Prior to the manned mission, ISRO plans several rounds of tests. This includes the TV-D1 test flight demonstration and tests with a humanoid astronaut named 'Vyomitra.' 

An unmanned Gaganyaan flight is also on the agenda before the scheduled manned mission, potentially in 2025.

In preparation for the Gaganyaan mission, ISRO has completed crucial trials. These include the initial recovery trials of the crew module in the Water Survival Test Facility and testing the Gaganyaan Service Module Propulsion System.

On October 21, ISRO conducted the first developmental flight of the test vehicle (TV-D1) with an in-flight abort demonstration of the crew escape system (CES).

The three designated astronauts have undergone suit trials in Russia. In September 2023, Indian astronauts visited Zvezda, where their anthropometric parameters were measured for the production of spacesuits.