Gaganyaan astronaut to head to International Space Station

Gaganyaan crew while training in Russia

One of the four astronauts undergoing training for the Gaganyaan mission will travel to the International Space Station as part of a collaborative effort with NASA, Union Minister Jitendra Singh has informed the Lok Sabha. In a written reply, Singh said NASA has identified a private entity Axiom Space and ISRO had signed a Space Flight Agreement with the American firm for the joint mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US last year, President Joe Biden announced that India and the US were collaborating to send an Indian astronaut to the ISS in 2024. India's Astronaut Selection Board had selected four astronauts from the group of test pilots from the Indian Air Force for the Gaganyaan mission, India's first human space flight planned to take place next year.

"All four astronauts have undergone training on a spaceflight basic module in Russia. Currently, astronauts are undergoing training at ISRO's Astronauts Training Facility (ATF) in Bengaluru for the Gaganyaan Mission," Singh said. The minister said two out of three semesters of the Gaganyatri training programme have been completed while independent training simulators and static mockup simulators have been realised. Sharing an update on the Gaganyaan mission, Singh said ground testing of propulsion systems stages, including solid, liquid and cryogenic engine, towards human rating of the launch vehicle has been completed.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever