Vyommitra (Sanskrit: Vyōma 'space', Mitra 'friend') is a female-looking spacefaring humanoid robot developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation to function on-board the Gaganyaan, a crewed orbital spacecraft. Vyommitra was first unveiled on 22 January 2020 at the Human Spaceflight and Exploration SymposiuminBengaluru.[1][2]
It will accompany Indianastronauts in space missions and also be a part of uncrewed experimental Gaganyaan missions prior to the crewed spaceflight missions.[3]
Unlike other nations that have carried out space flight, ISRO aims to not fly animals onboard experimental missions. Instead, their objective is to fly humanoid robots for a better understanding of what weightlessness and radiation do to the human body when in space for a long duration.[4]
Vyommitra is expected to be aboard uncrewed Gaganyaan missions to perform microgravity experiments, monitor module parameters, and rehearse supporting astronauts in crewed missions by simulating functions exactly as humans do.[5] It is programmed to speak Hindi and English and perform multiple tasks.[6][7][8][9] It can mimic human activity, recognize various humans, and respond to their queries. It can perform environment control and life support systems functions, handle switch panel operations, and give environmental air pressure change warnings.
Recently[when?] it has been learned that the prototype models have finished trials and the engineering models are undergoing trials. The flight model to be used in the Gaganyaan G-mission is also being built by ISRO.[needs update]
Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh said in early February 2024 that the uncrewed Vyommitra Mission is scheduled for the third quarter of 2024, while the manned mission Gaganyaan is scheduled to be launched in 2025. He also repeated that it can perform many of the capabilities listed previously.[10][11]
