India has long way to go for human space flight mission: Fmr ISRO chief

India has a long way to go before it can actually undertake a human space flight mission, former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman A S Kiran Kumar said.

Earlier in the day, ISRO said that it carried out a major technology demonstration, the first in a series of tests to qualify a crew escape system, a critical technology relevant for human spaceflight.

Officials of the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said development of different technologies needed for making the ambitious venture a reality, including environmental control and life support systems and flight suite, was under progress.

"This is one of the many things that needs to be done. Not the only one. It's a step-by-step approach", Kiran Kumar told PTI on today's test. "These are all some preliminary activities".

The crew escape system was an emergency measure designed to quickly pull the crew module along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the launch vehicle in the event of a launch abort, according to ISRO.

Kiran Kumar said: "We still have a long way to go actually (to undertake the mission). Currently, we are doing certain key developmental activities within the confined... whatever resources that are there."