Elon Musk applauds ISRO’s progress for Gaganyaan Mission
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday congratulated Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on successfully conducting the third long-duration “hot test” of Vikas engine, as part of the engine qualification requirements for the Gaganyaan Programme.
ISRO on Wednesday successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test of the liquid propellant Vikas Engine for the core L110 liquid stage of the human-rated GSLV MkIII vehicle.
Congratulations! 🇮🇳 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2021
The engine was fired for a duration of 240 seconds at the engine test facility of ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. “The performance of the engine met the test objectives and the engine parameters were closely matching with the predictions during the entire duration of the test,” ISRO said in a statement.
The objective of the Gaganyaan programme is to demonstrate the capability to send humans to low earth orbit onboard an Indian launch vehicle and bring them back to earth.
Four Indian astronaut-candidates have already undergone generic space flight training in Russia as part of the Gaganyaan programme. ISRO’s heavy-lift launcher GSLV Mk III has been identified for the mission.
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Elon Musk’s One-Word Tweet On ISRO’s Gaganyaan Engine Test Success
Replying to a tweet by ISRO on Gaganyaan engine test, Elon Musk just wrote one word
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has congratulated India on successfully conducting the third long-duration “hot test” of Vikas engine, a key part of the ambitious Gaganyaan mission to take Indians to space in an Indian vehicle. Replying to a tweet by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the engine test, Mr Musk just wrote one word – “Congratulations!” with India’s flag emoticon. The ISRO said on Wednesday that it tested the human rated GSLV MkIII vehicle for engine qualification requirements for the manned mission and it was successful.
Congratulations! ???????? — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2021
ISRO said the engine was fired for 240 seconds at the space agency’s Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. The test objectives were met and the parameters closely matched the predictions, it added.
Mr Musk, a lifelong space enthusiast who aims to make humans a multi-planetary species, founded SpaceX in 2002 with an aim to bring down the cost of space transportation. His company pioneered reusable rocket technology to achieve that goal.
Despite being competitors, Mr Musk has often praised ISRO’s efforts to achieve big with minimal cost. When ISRO launched 104 satellites on a single rocket in February 2017, Mr Musk said he was very impressed by the record-breaking feat.
Yeah, awesome achievement by ISRO. Very impressive! — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 16, 2017
Last year, when SpaceX launched astronauts into Earth’s orbit aboard the Falcon 9 rocket, ISRO congratulated SpaceX and NASA on the “historic first launch”.
Congratulations to #NASA and #SpaceX for historic first launch of manned mission after 2011. Great job ! — ISRO (@isro) June 1, 2020
Several ISRO scientists, including its former chairman G Madhavan Nair, have praised the business model of SpaceX and the importance it gives to global marketing. According to a PTI report in March 2021, Mr Nair had praised Mr Musk for his leadership, vision and innovative management techniques. Mr Nair also added that India could learn from Mr Musk’s business strategy.
India’s Gaganyaan Mission was initially set to be launched in 2022, but it’s not clear if the deadline will be met because of the coronavirus pandemic. The mission’s objective is to demonstrate India’s capability to send humans to low earth orbit in an Indian vehicle – the heavy-lift GSLV Mk III – and bring them back to Earth.
There’s also a huge commercial interest in space travel. Recently, billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson flew to the edge of space for a test flight and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is set to fly to space later this month.
Elon Musk congratulates Isro on successful test of Vikas Engine for Gaganyaan
@isro Congratulations! 🇮🇳 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 1626287902000
NEW DELHI: SpaceX and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation Isro ) for completing the third long-duration hot test of he liquid propellant engine of the GSLV MkIII (launch vehicle).“Isro on July 14, 2021 has successfully conducted the hot test of the liquid propellant Vikas Engine for the core L110 liquid stage of the human rated GSLV MkIII vehicle, as part of engine qualification requirements for the Gaganyaan Programme ,” the space research agency wrote in a tweet.In response, the SpaceX CEO congratulated the agency.“The engine was fired for a duration of 240 seconds at the engine test facility of ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. The performance of the engine met the test objectives and the engine parameters were closely matching with the predictions during the entire duration of the test,” Isro stated in a release.Scientists associated with Gaganyaan had told TOI in the last week of June that there has been progress made on the human rating of the systems but Isro is yet to officially review the timeline of the programme which has been affected by multiple lockdowns and related restrictions.And, as reported by TOI earlier, the space agency in April had decided that it may even go ahead with the uncrewed mission without the indigenous data relay satellite and some aspects of the human rating of the systems, even as it works to ensure they are ready much ahead of the launch of humans.Even the Gaganyaan Advisory Council (GAC) that met in the last week of March had advised Isro not to delay the uncrewed mission.