India has achieved remarkable successes in unmanned space missions including the Chandrayaan and Mars Orbitter Mission, but has not ventured into manned space missions. What are the main obstacles to launching a manned space mission, both in terms of technology and logistics? Examine critically. (10 Marks)

Human spaceflight demands a higher safety threshold than robotic exploration because life support, crew escape and recovery must work reliably under extreme conditions.

Technological obstacles

• Human-rated launch vehicles, redundant avionics, crew escape and precision re-entry.
• Closed-loop life support, radiation protection, thermal control and crew health systems.
• Training, docking, communication and safe recovery infrastructure.

Logistical and institutional constraints

• Very high life-cycle cost and need for sustained funding.
• Specialised astronaut training, launch-abort facilities, tracking ships and mission control.
• Supply-chain quality assurance and long-duration testing of every subsystem.

India’s robotic success is a strong base, but a phased, human-rated programme with international cooperation and transparent safety gates is essential.

Keywords: space technology; human spaceflight; ISRO.