Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday announced the names of the first four astronaut candidates for India’s first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan.
Mission Gaganyaan, i.e., sky vehicle, is a ₹9,000 crore human spaceflight programme developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The mission is projected to be launched by 2025.
Three astronaut candidates will eventually take part in the seven-day mission.
On 27 February, the four astronaut candidates took the stage at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, in blue and silver coveralls after Modi announced their names.
Group captains Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Prathap and Ajit Krishnan, and backup pilot Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla are veteran Air Force pilots with extensive flying experience.
“I am happy to meet these astronauts and present them to the country,” said Modi. Calling the four the “pride of today’s India”, he presented them with badges of astronaut wings and the Gaganyaan logo.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and ISRO chair S. Somanath also attended the event.
The four men entered the shortlist after an initial spaceflight technical training — medical examination, space training, and selection — in Russia. The candidates have also been receiving training at a new astronaut training facility in Bengaluru.
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Gaganyaan mission
ISRO has had to innovate with technology like the components of launch vehicles to develop the Gaganyaan mission. It has also built new human training and command centres like the Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) and the astronaut training facility in Bengaluru.
The mission faced hurdles and delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic but will likely be launched by next year. As part of the mission, a capsule would carry three astronauts to orbit and return them safely to Earth after seven days.
The ISRO Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3) rocket, formerly Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III, will launch the mission.
ISRO has already completed testing and human certification of multiple components like the re-entry capsule, crew ejection mechanism, and engine on LVM3.
ISRO also has set up a temporary ground station for the mission in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, an archipelago between Sri Lanka and Australia. The islands lie close to Sumatra and are Australia’s external territory.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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