Elon Musk Congratulates ISRO On The Successful 3rd Test Of Vikas Engine For Gaganyaan

On Jul 15, 2021

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation for successfully conducting its 3rd test of the Vikas Engine that will be used for the Gaganyaan Programme. Musk’s one-word Tweet also has an Indian flag emoji.

The engine was tested for a duration of 240 seconds at the ISRO facility in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. “The performance of the engine met the test objectives and the engine parameters were closely matching with the predictions during the entire duration of the test,” ISRO said.

Congratulations! 🇮🇳

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2021

Mr Musk has often praised ISRO’s work despite being a competitor. The billionaire has praised ISRO’s achievements especially due to the minimal cost. Musk was also impressed when ISRO launched 104 satellites on a single rocket in February 2017. SpaceX is also planning to partner with local companies to manufacture satellite communications equipment in India according to reports. The company is also planning to launch its high-speed Starlink satellite broadband services in the country.

The 3rd test of the Vikas Engine was the final testing of one of the three stages of the launch vehicle and will be used in missions to carry humans to space. The engine will be used to send a manned flight to the low earth orbit. The first manned mission is scheduled for December 2021 while the second is slated for 2022-23. However, it is unsure whether the ISRO is on track due to the COVID-19 pandemic and could suffer a delay.

For this mission, four people from the Indian Air Force have been selected including a Group Captain and three Wing Commanders. The four have already completed their one-year training in Russia’s Zvyozdny Gorodok city earlier this year in March. Two flight surgeons are also preparing and undergoing training for the mission in Russia and France respectively.

The much-awaited space programme of ISRO was formally announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15th, 2018. The Prime Minister announced that it was India’s target to launch a manned mission before the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in 2022.

Space travel has been garnering a lot of interest in the recent past, especially since Richard Branson became the first billionaire to go into space last Sunday. He travelled onboard Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed test flight. Jeff Bezos is also expected to go into space later this month in Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle.