The Gaganyaan program, India’s ambitious human spaceflight initiative, is experiencing significant delays, creating a domino effect on the nation’s wider space ambitions. Initially envisaged to coincide with India’s 75th Independence Day in 2022, the project’s timelines have slipped repeatedly, first due to the pandemic, and now as a result of technological and procedural bottlenecks.

The first uncrewed flight, which was to take place in December 2024, was deferred to March 2025, and has now been rescheduled to December 2025, further compressing an already tight schedule.

The revised plan outlines eight flights under the Gaganyaan program. These are to include three test missions, two crewed flights, an autonomous docking mission with the International Space Station (ISS), the deployment of the first module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), and a subsequent autonomous docking with BAS-1. Each of these missions is intended to occur at six-month intervals to ensure adequate time for analysis, rectification of technical flaws, and implementation of improvements between flights.

Courtesy: Indian Space Post      

The cumulative delays in Gaganyaan now endanger the entire planned sequence. The inaugural crewed mission has already shifted twice and is now slated for 2027. If more slippage occurs at the start of this sequence, all subsequent milestones, including the docking and construction operations crucial for India’s space station ambitions, face inevitable postponement. This could jeopardise the target of operationalising the Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035.

ISRO has listed several critical qualifying tests that are yet to be conducted in full, including additional integrated air drop tests, test vehicle missions, and pad abort tests. Thus far, only a single instance of each has been completed, and many are still outstanding prior to the first crewed launch. The failure to execute timely parachute deployment and safety mechanism validations means the margin for error is now exceedingly slim.

The stacking of the HLVM3-G1-OM1 human-rated launcher began in earnest last year, but routine delays have reduced the buffer between each essential mission. The current schedule is so compressed that any failure or anomaly detected during a flight could force ISRO to extend the timeline even further as investigation and corrective actions would disrupt the six-month cadence between launches.

Financially, the Gaganyaan program remains a high-priority investment, with the Union Cabinet approving a budget of ₹10,000 crore in 2018. Since then, the combination of pandemic-related disruptions and technical hurdles has effectively removed all leeway from the roadmap. While ISRO’s leadership continues to project confidence, the absence of any major external challenges this year places full responsibility for the delays on internal planning and execution.

Success in the Gaganyaan program is now entwined not only with India’s aspirations for human spaceflight but with its entire vision for a self-reliant space infrastructure. If these delays cascade into the BAS timeline or diminish confidence among international partners and the Indian public, the opportunity cost may be measured in lost leadership and competitiveness in the global space sector. For ISRO, returning to a reliable cadence and aggressively addressing procedural gaps has become an existential challenge for the country’s ambitions among the stars.

Gaganyaan & BAS Mission Timeline (Revised Projection 2025–2035)


Mission PhaseOriginal TargetRevised TargetKey ObjectiveDelay Impact
Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1)2023CompletedCrew escape system validationBaseline achieved
Test Vehicle Abort Mission-2 (TV-D2)2024Early 2026Abort sequence refinementDelays uncrewed missions
Uncrewed Flight-1 (G1)Dec 2024 → Mar 2025Dec 2025First orbital validation flightPushes crewed timeline
Uncrewed Flight-2 (G2)Sept 2025Mid-2026Life support and re-entry system testCompresses gap before crew mission
Uncrewed Flight-3 (G3)Mar 2026Late 2026End-to-end systems redundancy validationReduced data evaluation window
First Crewed Flight (C1)Dec 20262027Three astronauts in low Earth orbit for 3–5 daysFuture roadmap dependent on success
Second Crewed Flight (C2)20282028–29Extended mission to test habitabilityCritical precursor to station construction
Autonomous ISS Docking Mission20292030Test space rendezvous techMust precede BAS docking trials
BAS-1 Module Launch20312032–33Deploy first Indian space station segmentDependent on previous human missions
BAS-1 Docking Demonstration20332034–35Crewed docking and operationFinal step towards operational BAS

Based On News9Live Report