ISRO test-fires engine that will help Gaganyaan astronauts escape in case of emergencies

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday test-fired its low-altitude escape motor (LEM), a key part of its upcoming manned space mission, Gaganyaan. The LEM will be responsible for powering the Crew Escape System (CES), a mechanism that ejects the crew module from the space shuttle in case of any emergency at the early stages of the mission.

ISRO stated that the LEM will have a 6-second burn time, and will come into action only in case of an abort call from mission control in the initial phase. The motor is designed to help protect the humans, who will fly to space from Indian soil for the first time.

The test firing of LEM comes after ISRO chairman, S. Somanath, said at a press conference on June 30 that the launch timeline of the Gaganyaan mission would have to be extended beyond 2022 and even 2023, to ensure all safety measures for humans aboard.

"We need to remove the worry part that it can burst at any time. Worry can be removed only by ruggedising the object, testing it more number of times, and introducing intelligence in the rocket. This is done so that it can identify problems, and let the aircraft know pilots can escape. But, rockets cannot do that. Rockets move very fast, and have to find out themselves that something is going bad now (to) let the astronauts go away. It will automatically command an escape system and the astronauts can escape. This is a new system (that we are) currently doing," Somanath's statement said.

The LEM test-firing for the CES comes as the first step for the astronaut escape process that Somanath described in June.

Speaking at the post-launch press conference of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C53 mission, Somanath said that an unmanned test launch of the Gaganyaan shuttle will be undertaken some time in mid-2023.

ISRO also launched its new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), which is expected to be India's bulk, commercial space launcher, on August 7. While the launch happened successfully, the mission was only a partial success as the SSLV failed to deploy its payload, two small satellites, in their intended low-Earth orbits.