Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the names of four astronauts selected for India’s Gaganyaan Mission, the country’s maiden human space flight endeavour on Tuesday. The chosen astronauts undergoing rigorous training for the historic mission are Prashanth Nair, Angad Prathap, Ajit Krishnan, and Shubhanshu Shukla.
Preparations for the Gaganyaan Mission, India’s first human space flight program, are well underway at various ISRO centers. The ambitious project aims to demonstrate India’s capability in human spaceflight by launching crew members into a 400 km orbit for a three-day mission, safely returning them to Earth by landing in Indian sea waters.
ISRO recently achieved a significant milestone by completing acceptance tests of the flight engine designated for the first unmanned Gaganyaan (G1) mission. This engine, with a thrust capability of 19 to 22 tonnes and a specific impulse of 442.5 seconds, will power the upper stage of the human-rated LVM3 vehicle.
India’s space endeavors have witnessed remarkable achievements, including the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon’s South Pole and the launch of Aditya-L1, the nation’s first solar mission, in 2023.
Looking ahead, India aims to accomplish further milestones, including the Gaganyaan Mission in 2024-2025, establishing the ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ by 2035, and sending the first Indian astronaut to the Moon by 2040.
