ISRO Signs Contract With Russian Company To Train Astronauts For India’s First Manned Space Mission ‘Gaganyaan’

The preparations for India’s maiden manned space mission ‘Gaganyaan’ are on full swing as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed a contract with a Russian company for support in selection, medical examination and space training of the astronauts, reports Hindustan Times.

According to the report, director of Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) of ISRO S Unnikrishnan Nair signed the contract with Russian company Glavkosmos’ first deputy director general Natalia Lokteva on 27 June.

A Russian launch service provider, Glavkosmos is the subsidiary of the country’s space agency Roscosmos State Corporation.

Glavkosmos will render to HSFC services on consulting support of selection of candidates for the Indian astronauts, providing medical examination of the candidates for access to space flight related training program and providing space flight related training for the Indian astronauts selected on the basis of the medical examination, the company said in a statement.

“The work will be provided with support of the Federal State Budget Organisation- U A Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Center and Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences,” it said.

The ISRO has set up the HSFC to facilitate the manned space voyage involving a three-member crew. The ‘Gaganyaan’ is set for a December 2021 launch and is likely to include a woman astronaut.

Earlier in May this year, the ISRO had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Air Force (IAF) for cooperation in crew selection and training for the Gaganyaan project.

As per the report, the ISRO chief K Sivan had said that the initial training of the selected astronauts would be conducted in the country but advanced training might be provided abroad.