NEW DELHI, Oct 21: India achieved a significant milestone by successfully conducting a test vehicle flight from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh. This test flight was an essential part of India's human space flight program, Gaganyaan.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) officially announced the accomplishment, stating, "TV D1 Test Flight is completed, and the Crew Escape System performed as intended, marking the successful start of Mission Gaganyaan."

Initially, the test flight encountered a monitoring anomaly, leading to a temporary hold. However, ISRO's dedicated scientists identified and resolved the issue, ultimately executing the test successfully.

ISRO Chief S Somanath explained the mission's purpose, stating, "The primary goal of this mission was to demonstrate the crew escape system for Gaganyaan. The test vehicle reached supersonic speeds and initiated an abort condition to test the crew escape system. During the test, the crew escape system successfully separated the crew module from the vehicle, and all other performance parameters, including the sea touch-down, were successfully achieved."

Mission Director S Sivakumar emphasized the significance of this achievement, describing it as an unprecedented endeavor. He stated, "This test was a combination of three critical experiments, involving the test vehicle, the crew escape system, and the crew module. We have flawlessly demonstrated all three systems in our first attempt. All systems performed admirably."

With this successful test flight, India moves one step closer to realizing its ambitious human space mission, 'Gaganyaan.'