Article Posted on : - Apr 02, 2010

Russian Soyuz- TMA.

BANGALORE (PTI): India has not made any offer to Russia to purchase Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to undertake the country's own human space flight slated for 2015-16, a top space department official said.

"No, that's all what the newspapers write," Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Radhakrishnan told PTI here on reports in a section of the Russian media which talked about the "offer".

Russian reports also said China had received technical documentation on various Soyuz-TM systems and used them to develop its own Shenzhou manned spacecraft.

Radhakrishnan said, "We have a (human space flight) programme," adding, ISRO is going to put two Indians in an orbit around the earth.

"That's our plan. Studies have been conducted. There is a pre-project which is already going on to study some of the critical technologies. And we have a project report which we have given to the Government (for approval)," he said.

ISRO officials said the proposal for undertaking the human space flight to carry humans to a low earth orbit and ensure their safe return to earth has been prepared and submitted to the government for approval.

The space department has already carried out a detailed study on technical and managerial issues related to undertaking manned space missions with an aim to building and demonstrating the country's capability.

The programme envisages development of a fully autonomous orbital vehicle carrying two or three crew-members to a 300 km earth orbit.

ISRO has already developed crew escape system (CES) aerodynamic configuration. Baseline documents have been prepared for astronaut selection and astronaut training, officials said.

Baseline configuration document for human centrifuge, spatial disorientation trainer, hypo/hyperbaric chamber, mission simulator and quarantine had also been prepared, officials said.