Gaganyaan mission: Two Isro astronauts to begin Nasa training in August

The astronaut duo will start training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas in August this year; one of the two astronauts will join the upcoming Indo-US space mission to the ISS

Two Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) astronauts are set to begin training for the Gaganyaan mission with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) in August this year.

The two astronauts will start their training at Nasa's Johnson Space Center in Texas in August. These two astronauts are among the current group of four designated test pilots from the Indian Air Force.

An official said, “While they have general training for spacefaring, much of their training in India focused on Gaganyaan modules. They will have to be familiarised with ISS modules and protocols."

After completing their training in Texas, one of the two astronauts will join the upcoming Indo-US space mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

 

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US in June 2023, President Joe Biden announced the Indo-US space mission and said that NASA would train Indian astronauts for it.

The crewed Indo-US space mission is scheduled for launch by the end of 2024. Despite some reports of potential delays, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti confirmed that the mission is set to proceed by the end of this year.

Gaganyaan Mission execution

The mission will use SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule, with operations managed by Axiom Space.

The Axiom-4 mission, designed to transport Indian astronauts to the ISS, marks the fourth private astronaut mission conducted by NASA in collaboration with the private American company Axiom Space. The mission is scheduled for a 14-day stay at the ISS.

This mission is significant as it marks India's return to crewed spaceflight since Rakesh Sharma's journey aboard Soyuz T-11 to the Soviet Salyut-7 Space Station in April 1984.
 

India's first crewed spaceflight

The NASA training and the Indo-US mission are preparatory steps for India's Gaganyaan space programme, which aims to launch a human-carrying spacecraft to Earth orbit and return safely, marking India's first indigenous crewed spaceflight.

India's human spaceflight is expected to be delayed until at least 2025, as the initial unmanned mission is yet to commence. The manned mission will proceed only after the successful completion of two unmanned flights.

Furthermore, India's GSLV Mk2 rocket is set to launch the Indo-US satellite NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) by late 2024 or early 2025. NISAR will monitor Earth's vital signs, contributing to climate change research and natural disaster evaluations.