‘Proud Moment for India’: PM Modi Confers ‘Astronaut Wings’ on Crew Selected for Gaganyaan Mission

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday conferred the ‘Astronaut Wings’ on four test pilots for India’s first-ever manned space mission ‘Gaganyaan,’ that translates to ‘spaceship’ in Hindi. The first history manned spaceflight of India will be launched into space by the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025 with Indian cosmonauts.

During his visit to ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Kerala’s Capital Thiruvananthapuram, Prime Minister honoured the four pilots for Gaganyaan mission that will fly to low-earth orbit. The four Indian Air Force (IAF) Officers shortlisted for the mission will be the first Indians to be launched to space on an indigenous space vehicle from the Indian soil. 

The pilots, identified as Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan, Group Captain Ajith Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla, have undergone extensive training in Russia and are now at ISRO training facility. ISRO and a subsidiary of Russian space agency Roscosmos, Glavkosmos had inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the training of four astronauts in June 2019. The four test pilots of Indian Air Force were trained at Russia’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in February 2020 till March 2021.

India’s historic Gaganyaan space project will demonstrate country’s first ever human spaceflight with three members who will fly to an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and will return safely to Earth by landing in the Indian sea waters, as per ISRO’s website.

The prerequisites for the landmark space mission will include human-rated launch vehicle, Life Support System, crew emergency escape provision, and crew management aspects for training and recovery. ISRO has also identified Human-rated LVM3 (HLVM3), a reliable heavy-lift launcher for the Gaganyaan mission. ISS’ first ever piece was launched into space on a Russian rocket in 1998, and the first astronaut landed in 2000.

India to send one test pilot for ISS mission planned by NASA and ISRO 

India will also send one test pilot for ISS mission planned by NASA and ISRO and announced during the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to US. One astronaut will be shortlisted for the joint International Space Station (ISS) mission by the end of 2024, collaborated between ISRO and NASA. "This mission will be planned ahead of India's human spaceflight mission so as to give the astronauts enough opportunity to learn from ISS mission to plan well for Gaganyaan,” Prime Minister said.

Last year, US President Joe Biden hailed the two countries’ space collaboration. “From designing new ways to diagnosing and treating new illnesses like cancer and diabetes to collaboration on human space flight, including on sending an Indian astronaut to the international space station in 2024,” he said. The astronauts for this mission will be trained at NASA, the agency’s administrator Bill Nelson, during a visit to Delhi in 2023.