India became the first country to land a spacecraft at the South Pole last month. The success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission prompted India to send its first astronaut into space on its own in 2025. But the H1 mission under the Gaganyaan program has been delayed to 2026 to avoid it experiencing the same problems as the Boeing Starliner program.
After seeing the issue of Starliner having to return to earth without a crew, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) took more precautions before launching the first astronaut using the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) rocket. Several uncrewed test missions will be conducted this year and based on data collected the first mission carrying up to two human crews will be conducted in 2026.
So far the capsule carrying astronauts has successfully undergone an emergency launch test at an altitude of 17 kilometers. At the end of this year the G1 mission will be launched carrying the Vyomitra robot to monitor conditions inside the capsule as well as life support systems.
Four astronauts have been selected for the Gaganyaan program. India had already sent their first astronaut Rakesh Sharma in 1984 on a Soviet Union rocket. If the Gaganyaan program is successful, India will become the fourth country to successfully send its own astronauts after Russia, the United States and China.