Cheaper and lighter: 'Made in Gujarat' spacesuits to be used in Gaganyaan

Ahmedabad: The countdown to India’s ambitious manned spaceflight mission Gaganyaan has begun and Isro scientists are at breakneck speeds to achieve the mission’s December 2021 deadline. India’s indigenously developed astronaut crew escape suit, bearing the ‘Made in Vadodara’ tag is the first on Isro’s wardrobe. The suit is 20% lighter and one hundredth of the cost of its foreign counterpart. The astronaut crew escape suit will see the best of both American and Russian space suits. The last time an Indian wore a space suit was in 1984, when wing commander Rakesh Sharma flew aboard Russian Soyuz T-11.

Sure Safety, a Vadodara based industrial safety equipment manufacturer has designed the suit from scratch after collaborating with Isro’s Space Applications Centre Ahmedabad.

The firm gave the first glimpse of the space suit at the Futuristic Technology Exhibition inaugurated on Thursday at the Science City. Nishith Dand, managing director of the firm, told TOI that trials for testing the material under lab conditions are almost over, including vacuum chambers tests. “Right from the communications, bio-sensors measuring body temperatures, oxygen and carbonmonoxide levels and to pressure management systems, all technology has been developed indigenously ,” he said.