Gaganyaan Mission : ISRO to send Indian into space by 2022

ISRO-ESA collaboration in microgravity research in upcoming Axiom-4 Mission

January 31, 2025

Recently, ISRO and European Space Agency (ESA) have entered into an agreement to cooperate on activities related to Astronaut Training, Mission Implementation and Research Experiments. This agreement provides an opportunity for undertaking joint microgravity experiments. In this regard, following microgravity research experiments by Indian Principal Investigators (PIs) have been jointly shortlisted by ISRO & ESA for implementation on International Space Station (ISS) during Axiom-4 mission:

Sl. No.​
Microgravity Experiment​
Institution (s)​
1​
Comparative growth and proteomics responses of cyanobacteria on urea and nitrate in microgravity​
International Centre for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology (ICGEB)
Dept. of Biotechnology​
2​
Impact of Microgravity on Growth and Yield Parameters in Food Crop Seeds​
Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Dept. of Space & College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Kerala Agricultural University​

Currently, these shortlisted microgravity experiments are under various phases of evaluation in view of safety driven operational philosophy of human spaceflight missions. Further, ISRO& ESA will be jointly carrying outhuman research and other scientific/ technology demonstration experiments.

In addition to these, cooperation in microgravity research with other space agencies during Axiom-4 mission is also being actively pursued.

The field of microgravity research with potential applications in human health research, physical sciences, material sciences, novel pharmaceutical development and biotechnology offers significant opportunities to national scientific community. Indian Human Space Program, Gaganyaan aims to encourage and support Indian scientific community in microgravity research activities through flight opportunities in ISRO’s missions as well as joint international efforts.

ISRO-ESA collaboration in microgravity research in upcoming Axiom-4 Mission
 
Successful accomplishment of joint ISRO-ESA Radio Frequency Compatibility Tests (RFCT) for Gaganyaan Missions

February 11, 2025

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully completed validation of network operations of Gaganyaan Orbital Module communications systems with the European Space Agency (ESA) Ground Station by conducting a series of Radio Frequency Compatibility Tests (RFCT). These tests are essential towards ensuring readiness of the entire communications architecture and validation of compatibility of ISRO’s systems with external ground stations before undertaking Gaganyaan missions. This requires integrated operation of the Gaganyaan onboard Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TTC), Data Handling, Audio/Video Systems with the external Ground Station.

With the successful accomplishment of these RFCT jointly with ESA, end-to-end compatibility between ISRO’s Gaganyaan Orbital Module communications systems and ESA’s Ground station network has been demonstrated.

Ensuring seamless communication between Mission Control Centre and Gaganyaan Orbital Module is vital for the mission success. This is essential for successful accomplishment of mission operations in human space missions such as communication with onboard Crew, monitoring of various onboard systems of the Orbital Module as well as commanding operations by a team of ground-based Flight Controllers. In order to provide maximal communication coverage during the Gaganyaan missions, ISRO will be utilizing is own capabilities as well as external ground station support from other agencies across the world.

This cooperative activity was enabled through a Technical Implementing Plan (TIP) for providing Ground Tracking Support for Gaganyaan Missions signed by both ISRO and ESA in December,2024.

Successful accomplishment of joint ISRO-ESA Radio Frequency Compatibility Tests (RFCT) for Gaganyaan Missions
 
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