Produced by: Tarun Mishra
Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced that ISRO is collaborating with NASA for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS), according to a report by India Today.
This collaboration is a significant milestone in India’s Gaganyaan program and its broader space exploration initiatives.
One Indian astronaut, referred to as a "Gaganyaatri," will participate in this mission to the ISS, marking a historic moment for India.
The joint venture involves ISRO, NASA, and Axiom Space, a NASA-identified private entity. ISRO has signed a Space Flight Agreement with Axiom Space to facilitate this mission.
The mission is expected to launch no earlier than August 2024 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as part of the Axiom-4 Mission.
For the broader Gaganyaan project, four Indian Air Force test pilots have been selected as astronauts. They are undergoing training at ISRO's Astronaut Training Facility in Bengaluru.
These astronauts have completed two out of three semesters of their training, which included basic spaceflight modules in Russia.
Minister Singh highlighted the progress in developing training infrastructure, including the realization of independent training simulators and static mockup simulators.
The Gaganyaan mission aims to demonstrate India's human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members into a 400 km orbit for a three-day mission, concluding with a safe return to Earth in Indian waters.