Context: Recently, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) has developed SAKHI, a multi-purpose app aiding astronauts on India’s Gaganyaan mission with tasks like communication and health monitoring.

About Sakhi

• The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) has developed SAKHI, a multi-purpose app for astronauts on the Gaganyaan space flight mission.

• SAKHI assists astronauts with tasks such as accessing technical information, communication, monitoring health, and dietary scheduling.

• It features a custom-built, hand-held smart device and has undergone successful testing of an engineering model.

• The app is described as indispensable by the VSSC director, S. Unnikrishnan Nair, providing vital data at the astronauts’ fingertips in the limited space of the crew module.

• The platform is designed to be strapped to space suits, ensuring quick access at all times during the mission.

• The ISRO plans to launch the Gaganyaan mission in 2025, with four astronaut-designates, all Indian Air Force (IAF) test pilots, already revealed at an event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 27.

Gaganyaan Mission

• Indian Ambition: Gaganyaan is the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) mission to send astronauts into space.

• First Steps:  Aimed for launch around 2025, it will be India’s first human spaceflight.

• The Crew: The spacecraft will carry a three-member crew on a mission to orbit Earth at 400 km altitude. The crew will do microgravity experiments during the mission.

• Launch vehicle- GSLV MK-III

• Mission Duration: The crew will spend up to seven days in space before safely returning to Earth.

• Technological Leap:  This ambitious project will showcase India’s advancements in spacecraft development, life support systems, and astronaut training.

• Global Stage:  A successful Gaganyaan mission will place India among a select few nations with independent human spaceflight capabilities.