India's woman robot astronaut Vyommitra will fly into space ahead of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) ambitious Gaganyaan mission, the country's first manned space flight carrying Indian astronauts.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Jitendra Singh said the uncrewed Vyommitra Mission is scheduled for the third quarter of this year, while the manned mission Gaganyaan is scheduled to be launched in 2025.

Vyommitra is a name derived from two Sanskrit words - vyoma, meaning space, and mitra, meaning friend.

The robot astronaut can monitor module parameters, issue alerts, and execute life-support operations, the Union Minister said, adding it can also perform tasks such as operating six panels and responding to queries.

It has been designed in such a manner to simulate human functions in the space environment and interact with the life support system, Mr Singh said, according to a statement by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

Before the run-up to the launch of Gaganyaan, the first test vehicle flight TV D1 was accomplished on October 21, 2023. This was meant to qualify the crew escape system and parachute system. The human rating of the launch vehicle is complete; all the propulsion stages are qualified, and all the preparations are in place.

The Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human space capabilities by launching a crew of astronauts into an orbit of 400 km, and then bringing back the astronauts safely to Earth.