Gaganyaan to proceed with caution to avoid Boeing-like incident: Isro chief

Although Gaganyaan is ready for launch by the end of the year, we should proceed with caution, said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath on Friday.

Gaganyaan, which is among the projects approved by the Union cabinet on Wednesday, is India's first human mission.

I don't want what happened to the Boeing Starliner, so we should be very careful, added Somanath.

The first test flight of Boeing Starliner spacecraft with astronauts, launched by NASA on June 5 returned to Earth on September 7, but without the astronauts. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the astronauts Sunitha Williams and Butch Wilmore were forced to extend their eight-day stay in the International Space to eight months, as they will now be picked up by SpaceX Crew Dragon in February.

Somanath also stressed the importance of exploring Venus.

The Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM) is also among the four projects approved by the Union cabinet and it has been allocated Rs 1,236 crore.

"Tomorrow Earth may