The Indian Space Research Organisation has proposed a budget of ₹12,400 crore (US$1.9 billion) for its human spaceflight program.[63] According to the Space Commission, which recommended the budget, an unmanned flight will be launched after 7 years of final approval[64] and a manned mission will be launched after 7 years of funding.[65][66] If realized in the stated time-frame, India will become the fourth nation, after the USSR, USA and China, to successfully carry out manned missions indigenously. The government of India has not yet approved the mission as of October 2016.
Technology demonstration
The Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SCRE or more commonly SRE or SRE-1)[67] is an experimental Indian spacecraft that was launched using the PSLV C7 rocket, along with three other satellites. It remained in orbit for 12 days before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and splashing down into the Bay of Bengal.[68]
The SRE-1 was designed to demonstrate the capability to recover an orbiting space capsule, and the technology for performing experiments in the microgravity conditions of an orbiting platform. It was also intended to test thermal protection, navigation, guidance, control, deceleration and flotation systems, as well as study hypersonic aerothermodynamics, management of communication blackouts, and recovery operations.
ISRO also plans to launch SRE-2 and SRE-3 in the near future to test advanced re-entry technology for future manned missions.[69]
Astronaut training and other facilities
ISRO will set up an astronaut training center in Bangalore to prepare personnel for flights on board the crewed vehicle. The center will use simulation facilities to train the selected astronauts in rescue and recovery operations and survival in zero gravity, and will undertake studies of the radiation environment of space. ISRO will build centrifuges to prepare astronauts for the acceleration phase of the mission. It also plans to build a new Launch pad to meet the target of launching a manned space mission in 7 years of funding clearance. This would be the third launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
Development of crew vehicle
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working towards a maiden manned Indian space mission vehicle that can carry three astronauts for seven days in a near earth orbit. The Indian manned spacecraft temporarily named as Orbital Vehicle intends to be the basis of indigenous Indian human spaceflight program. The capsule will be designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with a rendezvous and docking capability. In its maiden manned mission, ISRO's largely autonomous 3-ton capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 km in altitude for up to seven days with a two-person crew on board. The crew vehicle would launch atop of ISRO's GSLV Mk II, currently under development. The GSLV Mk II features an indigenously developed cryogenic upper-stage engine.[70] The first test of the cryogenic engine, held on 15 April 2010, failed as the cryogenic phase did not perform as expected and rocket deviated from the planned trajectory.[71] However the next two tests of the indigenous cryogenic engine were successful on 5 January 2014 and 27 August 2015.
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