India is taking a giant leap forward in its space program as an Indian astronaut, referred to as a 'Gaganyaatri,' is set to embark on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS). This announcement was made by Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Space, in a written response to a query in the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament).
"The Indian space agency is pursuing an ISRO-NASA joint mission to ISS wherein one Gaganyaatri from ISRO will undertake space travel to ISS," Singh stated. "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."
The mission, dubbed Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), is scheduled to launch no earlier than August 2024 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Indian Gaganyaatri will be one of four astronauts on board, joining a team of international astronauts.
This individual will be selected from the pool of four Indian Air Force (IAF) test pilots who have been undergoing rigorous training for ISRO's ambitious Gaganyaan mission, which aims to demonstrate India's human spaceflight capabilities by 2025.
"The Astronaut Selection Board constituted by ISRO had earlier selected four astronauts from a group of IAF test pilots. All four astronauts had undergone training on a spaceflight basic module in Russia during the pandemic," Singh explained. "Currently, Indian astronauts are undergoing training at ISRO's Astronauts Training Facility in Bengaluru for the Gaganyaan mission."
Singh provided an update on the progress of Gaganyaan, stating that two out of three semesters of the training program have been completed, and critical infrastructure, including simulators, have been developed. He also confirmed that the human-rated launch vehicle is nearing completion, with the crew and service modules undergoing final integration activities.