SpaceX chief Elon Musk replies to ISRO tweet on Gaganyaan’s Vikas Engine firing success

• Musk’s one word pat-on-the back for ISRO has got Twitter raging.
• Gaganyaan is ISRO’s most ambitious project till date.
• ISRO stated that the Vikas Engine was fired for about 240 seconds.

SpaceX and Tesla chief Elon Musk has congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for successfully conducting the third test of the Vikas Engine that will be used for the Gaganyaan programme.


Musk’s one word tweet ‘Congratulations’ along with the Indian flag emoji has become a rage now. He was replying to the tweet by ISRO on the engine check.





Previously when SpaceX launched astronauts into Earth’s orbit, ISRO congratulated Musk’s space-tech firm SpaceX on the historic launch.


ISRO stated that the Vikas Engine was fired for about 240 seconds at the facility in Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu and this will be the final test before launching the vehicle.


Gaganyaan is ISRO’s most ambitious project, till date, with an aim of sending humans to space through an Indian made vehicle. The first mission is planned for December 2021 and the next one is for 2022-23. However, it might get delayed due to the pandemic.


The mission was announced by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2018 and he mentioned that this was being planned to happen before the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.


Four people have been selected for the mission from the Indian Air Force -- a captain and three commanders after a one year training in Russia.


Space travel has attracted a lot of interest in recent times after billionaire Richard Branson flew to space for a test flight. And Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is set to fly later this month.


A few media reports also said that SpaceX is planning to manufacture satellite communications equipment in India and it is also planning to launch Starlink satellite broadband services.



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