India's 'Gaganyatri' On International Space Station: One ISRO Astronaut To Undertake Space Travel To ISS, Says Minister Jitendra Singh

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is pursuing an ISRO-NASA joint mission to International Space Station (ISS) wherein one 'Gaganyaatri', an Indian astronaut, from ISRO will undertake space travel to ISS, Union Minister Jitendra Singh has informed the Parliament.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the minister said the Indian space agency is "pursuing an ISRO-Nasa joint mission to ISS wherein one Gaganyatri from Isro will undertake space travel to ISS. This is a collaborative effort of ISRO, NASA and Nasa-identified private entity, i.e. Axiom Space. Recently, ISRO has signed a space flight agreement with Axiom Space for this joint mission to the ISS".

Earlier last year, the US space agency had signed an agreement with Axiom Space for the fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS, “targeted to launch no earlier than August 2024 from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida".

The Gaganyatri for the ISS mission will be one of the four IAF pilots being trained for the Gaganyaan mission.

ISRO's Astronaut Selection Board previously chose four astronauts from a pool of IAF test pilots. These astronauts completed spaceflight basic module training in Russia during the pandemic.

Currently, they are training at ISRO's Astronauts Training Facility in Bengaluru for the Gaganyaan mission, according to the minister.

Regarding the Gaganyaan training, Singh said, “Two out of three semesters of the (Gaganyatri) training programme were completed. Independent training simulator and static mockup simulators (have been) realised."

On the vehicle that will put astronauts in space, Jitendra Singh said "solid and liquid propulsion stages of human-rated launch vehicle are ready for flight integration. C32 cryogenic stage is nearing completion. Crew module and service module structure realisation has been completed and flight integration activities are in progress."

The Gaganyaan project, ISRO's flagship mission, aims to demonstrate human spaceflight capabilities by sending a three-member crew into a 400 km orbit for a three-day mission, and safely returning them to Earth with a landing in Indian waters. This mission is projected to launch in 2025.

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