ISRO Chairman Somanath indicated that the first abort mission on special test vehicle could slip to Aug. “...May be the first test mission will happen in August although we'd initially thought about July. Such delays happen when doing things for 1st time,” he said.

After the first mission, he said ISRO will have the second one by the end of this year, which will be followed by an uncrewed mission possibly by the beginning of next year. “LV human-rating successful, & industries are delivering crew module, other systems. For me, there are 8 major tests & if all are successful, human mission will be in 2024-25 but if face challenges, which is quite natural, I've to discount the schedule,” he said.

Further, stressing on the safety aspect of Gaganyaan, Somanath said the redefined approach taken by ISRO to add redundancies and validate all systems and subsystems will ensure success in the very first attempt. “While COVID19 caused some delay… we also have a different thinking now. We don't want to rush. Primary objective is a safe mission & our redefined approach will achieve success in the very 1st attempt...We’ve enhanced testing, demonstration substantially.