After Chandrayaan, ISRO Preps For Gaganyaan Mission In October; L&T, Tata Exsi, Midhani In Focus

After the successful landing of Chandrayaan on the south pole of the lunar, it is being said that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has buckled up for the Gaganyaan space mission which is aimed at demonstrating human spaceflight capability. As per the report, ISRO is likely to conduct key tests for Gaganyaan as early as October. With that, a couple of stocks in Indian markets will be in focus. These would be Tata Elxsi, Midhani and Larsen & Toubro as they work to contribute to the mission.

The project director of the mission R Hutton told Reuters that ISRO is currently training four astronauts and looking to expand the cohort as it aims for more future manned missions. He added that a key test in its ambitious crewed space mission will be as early as next month.

As per the report, ISRO has mentioned that it will explore methods to achieve a sustained human presence in space once Gaganyaan is completed.

Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bringing them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.

Notably, the project is accomplished through an optimal strategy by considering in-house expertise, experience of Indian industry, intellectual capabilities of Indian academia & research institutions along cutting-edge technologies available with international agencies. The pre-requisites for the Gaganyaan mission include the development of many critical technologies including a human-rated launch vehicle for carrying the crew safely to space, a Life Support System to provide earth like environment to crew in space, crew emergency escape provision and evolving crew management aspects for training, recovery and rehabilitation of crew.

For the Gaganyaan mission, the LVM3 rocket, the well-proven and reliable heavy lift launcher of ISRO, is identified as the launch vehicle. The rocket consists of solid stage, liquid stage and cryogenic stage. All systems in the LVM3 launch vehicle are re-configured to meet human rating requirements and christened Human Rated LVM3. HLVM3 will be capable of launching the Orbital Module to an intended Low Earth Orbit of 400 km.

Meanwhile, HLVM3 consists of a Crew Escape System (CES) powered by a set of quick-acting, high-burn rate solid motors which ensures that the Crew Module along with the crew is taken to a safe distance in case of any emergency either at the launch pad or during the ascent phase.

Which defense stocks are to be in focus during the Gaganyaan mission?

Tata Elxsi:

In July, this Tata Group-backed company designed and created two crew module recovery models (CMRMs) for recovery team training for the space mission.

On July 25, Aditya S Chikodi, business head and GM of design & innovation, at Tata Elxsi, said, "This is for the very first time that ISRO has involved an industry participant to do complete mechanical design and engineering model, which will simulate the crew module that would go to space and then bring the crew back to the Earth in the safest way possible. In order to do this, they just gave us a brief saying that this is what they required and they wanted to have these modules developed for certain space-specific specifications."

Tata Elxsi partnered with ISRO to enable the upcoming Gaganyaan Mission.

On BSE, Tata Elxsi shares ended at Rs 7232.70 apiece on Friday, down by 1.06%. YTD, the stock has jumped by over 15% on the exchange.

Mishra Dhatu Nigam (Midhani):

Government-backed specialized metals and metal alloys manufacturing facility, Midhani is also contributing to the crewed space mission Gaganyaan by deploying alloy and Titanium-31.

In January 2020, Midhani also dispatched its first consignment of Ultra High Strength Steel for the Ignitor box and Cobalt alloy for Throat Sitting Ring for ISRO's indigenous manned mission 'Gaganyaan'.

On BSE, Midhani shares ended at Rs 420.10 apiece, up by 2.3% on Friday. YTD, Midhani shares have skyrocketed by nearly 88%.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T):

L&T is also involved in the Gaganyaan mission. Also, in November 2020, the company delivered the first hardware, a booster segment, for Gaganyaan Launch Vehicle to ISRO.

L&T is playing a vital role in powering ISRO's Human Space Flight Program (HSFP). A trusted partner of ISRO for almost five decades, L&T has been involved in the production of a range of hardware for every mission of ISRO, including the acclaimed
Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions.

On BSE, L&T shares ended at Rs 2910.80 apiece, down by 0.3% on Friday. YTD, the stock has gained by over 39% on BSE.