Sriharikota (AP), Oct 21: At the spaceport here, smiles replaced nervous looks when scientists from ISRO had to adjust the launch window for a test vehicle carrying payloads for the nation’s ambitious human space flight programme, Gaganyaan, which took off despite some initial technical difficulties. After a nerve-wracking two hours after TV-D1’s engine failed to ignite at first, ISRO scientists launched the rocket precisely 75 minutes later, successfully achieving the mission’s goal of separating the crew module and crew escape, which was met with thunderous applause at the Mission Control Centre here.The ISRO declared that the TV D1 Mission was completed. Later, as anticipated, the payloads sprang into the sea, a development that was met with celebration. The Gaganyaan programme intends to launch people into space for three days in a 400 km Low Earth Orbit and return them safely to Earth. The launch was originally scheduled to occur at 8 am, but it was delayed twice, for a total of 45 minutes, before an anomaly necessitated a reschedule for 10 am.
