Why will ISRO make several flights without a crew first?

Gaganyaan is India's programme to send astronauts into space. Its aim is to show that India can launch a crew into orbit and bring them back safely to Earth.

The plan is to carry a crew of three into an orbit about 400 kilometres above the Earth for a mission of three days, and then to bring them home with a landing in Indian sea waters. The rocket will be a version of ISRO's heavy-lift LVM3, rebuilt to meet the much stricter safety needs of carrying people and so called the Human Rated LVM3. It carries a Crew Escape System, powered by quick-acting solid rocket motors, which can carry the crew away from the rocket in an emergency.

The spacecraft has two main parts: a Crew Module, which gives the astronauts a living space with conditions like those on Earth, and a Service Module. Before anyone flies, ISRO plans a series of flights without a crew, including drop tests, a test of escaping from the launch pad and flights of a special test vehicle, so that the safety and reliability of every system is proved first.

The astronauts train at a facility in Bengaluru, using simulators and getting used to weightlessness. The Human Spaceflight Centre leads the programme.