ISRO Orbital Vehicle
| Manufacturer | HAL, ISRO |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | India |
| Operator | Indian Space Research Organisation |
| Applications | Manned spacecraft |
| Specifications | |
| Design life | 7 days |
| Launch mass | 3.7 tonnes |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Production | |
| Status | In development |
| Built | 1 |
| Launched | 18 December 2014 (experimental, unmanned) |
The Indian manned spacecraft temporarily named Orbital Vehicle is intended to be the basis of the Indian human spaceflight program. The space capsule will be designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capability. In its maiden manned mission, Indian Space Research Organisation's largely autonomous 3.7-tonne capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 km (250 mi) altitude for up to seven days with a three-person crew on board. The crew vehicle is planned to be launched on ISRO's GSLV Mk III. This HAL-manufactured crew module had its first unmanned experimental flight on 18 December 2014.
The development of the Orbital Vehicle began in 2006. The plan was to design a simple vessel similar to the Mercury-class spacecraft with an endurance of about a week in space. It was designed to carry two astronauts and to land in water upon re-entry. The design was finalized by March 2008, and was submitted to the Government of India for funding. The funding for the Indian Human Spaceflight program was sanctioned in February 2009. Initially, the first unmanned flight of the Orbital Vehicle was expected to be in 2013.
ISRO based the Orbital Vehicle on the design of the SRE. ISRO had launched and recovered the 550-kg Space Recovery Capsule in January 2007. The full-scale manned OV spaceship was said to be derived from this, although ISRO's published concept showed a more elongated conical shape than the SRE.
The OV is a fully autonomous three-ton capsuled spacecraft designed to carry a 3-member crew to orbit and safely return to the Earth after a mission duration of few orbits to two days.
The space capsule will have life control and environment control systems. It will be equipped with emergency mission abort and emergency escape that can be done at the first stage and second stage of the rocket. The illustration of the spacecraft showed a main engine and smaller orientation engines arranged in a light package around the base of the capsule, indicating an earth-orbit maneuvering capability was to be included. The nose of the original version of the OV was free for a docking mechanism, but primary entry was evidently through a side hatch secured by explosive bolts.
...
Wikipedia