Portal:Spaceflight/Selected article/2
Gaganyaan (Sanskrit: [ɡəɡənəjɑːnə],pronunciation, from Sanskrit: gagana, "celestial" and yāna, "craft, vehicle") is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The spacecraft is being designed to carry three people to low Earth orbit, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capabilities.
In its maiden crewed mission, ISRO's largely autonomous 5.3 tonnes (5.2 long tons; 5.8 short tons) capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 kilometres (250 mi) altitude for up to seven days with a two- or three-person crew on board. The first crewed mission was originally planned to be launched on ISRO's human-rated LVM3 rocket (HLVM3) in December 2021. As of November 2024, it is expected to be launched no earlier than 2027.