SpaceX Dragon crew begins return voyage from ISS

Last Updated09/11/2021

Recently, the Dragon vehicle, dubbed as Endeavour built by SpaceX has successfully begun the return voyage of astronauts from the International Space Station.
The SpaceX Crew-2 Mission was launched in April 2021, with 4 astronauts (2 from NASA and 2 from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the European Space Agency (ESA)) under the Commercial Crew programme.

This is the third crew launched into orbit under NASA's fledgling public-private partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and marks the second operational ""space station team'' that NASA has launched aboard a SpaceX capsule since resuming human spaceflights.
SpaceX became the first private company to launch people (human spaceflight) into orbit, a feat achieved by the US, Russia & China.
The main objective of the mission is to conduct scientific experiments in Low-earth orbit.
The focus is on studying Tissue Chips in Space.

A small model of human organs containing multiple types of cells.
Their study is significant to identifying safe and effective drugs and vaccines.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a multi-nation cooperative construction project that is the largest single structure humans ever put into space.
The ISS includes contributions from 15 nations. NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia) and the European Space Agency are the major partners of the space station who contribute most of the funding; the other partners are the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Canadian Space Agency.
The Space Station flies at an average altitude of 248 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth. It circles the globe every 90 minutes at a speed of about 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h). In one day, the station travels about the distance it would take to go from Earth to the moon and back.

Provides necessary support to NASA and allows it to concentrate on deep space exploration, and taking humans to the moon, and Mars.
Leverage commercial efficiencies and innovation while sharing risk in exchange for profits linked to performance.

In India 100% FDI under the government route is allowed in satellites-establishment and operation, as per the guidelines of the Department of Space/ISRO.
The Indian National Space, Promotion & Authorization Centre (INSPACe), under the Department of Space has been established to encourage participation of Private players in Space.
New Space India Limited (NSIL) will build launch vehicles and satellites, provide launch services and space based services, technology transfers, etc.
The private partnership in India mainly focuses on providing materials, mechanical fabrication, electronic fabrication, system development, integration, etc.
Indian Space Association (ISpA) will provide policy inputs to ISRO and other agencies related to Space technology and domain and build capacity and Space economic hubs and incubators in India.

The Gaganyaan mission by ISRO is aimed to undertake human spaceflight to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in the short-term and lay the foundation for a sustained Indian human space exploration programme in the long run.
The spacecraft consists of a service module and a crew module, collectively known as the Orbital Module.
Launch Vehicle: Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV Mk III.
ISRO has signed a contract with a subsidiary of ROSCOSMOS (the Russian space agency), called Gavkosmos for preparing the Indian astronauts selected for the mission.