Gaganyaan astronauts: PM Modi announces names of four Gaganyaan astronauts
“After 40 years, an Indian will go to space. But this time, the time will be Indian, countdown will be Indian, and the rocket will also be Indian,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday while announcing names of four astronaut-designates selected to fly to Low Earth orbit next year as part of Gaganyaan, the country’s first manned mission to space.
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The four astronaut designates are Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Angad Prathap, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan and Wing Commander Shubanshu Shukla.
The last time an Indian astronaut travelled to space was aboard the erstwhile Soviet Union’s Soyuz T-11 spacecraft four decades ago in 1984.
Also read | Who are the four selected Gaganyaan astronauts? Here is all you should know about the four astronauts
“Saare jahaan se achcha (Better than the whole world),” Indian Air Force Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma had told the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when she asked Sharma how India looked from outer space, swelling the hearts of Indians with pride.
Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Gaganyaan mission will seek to demonstrate India’s human spaceflight capability by launching astronauts to Low Earth orbit (LEO) of 400 kms for a three-day mission and bringing them safely to earth with a planned splashdown in Indian sea waters.
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PM Modi made the announcement while visiting the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, where he handed astronaut wings to the four astronaut designates.The four Indian Air Force pilots have been undergoing training at the space agency’s astronaut training facility in Bengaluru. They were selected at IAF’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine in the city.
Isro and Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of Russian space agency Roscosmos, had signed a memorandum of understanding in June 2019 for training the four astronauts. The astronauts trained at Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre from February 2020 till March 2021 in Russia’s Zvyozdny Gorodok city.
US space agency Nasa will also train an Indian astronaut for a scheduled mission to the International Space Station by December-end 2024, said the agency’s administrator Bill Nelson, during a visit to Delhi in 2023.
“The four astronaut-designates are not just four names or individuals, they are four ‘Shakti’ carrying the aspirations of 140 crore Indians into space. The four astronaut-designates symbolise the trust, courage, valour and discipline of today’s India,” Modi said.
During his visit, PM Modi also inaugurated three projects– trisonic wind tunnel at VSSC, semi-cryogenic integrated engine and stage test facility at Isro’s propulsion complex in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu, and PSLV integration facility at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
These projects have been developed at a total cost of about Rs 1,800 crore with an aim to provide world-class technical facilities to the Indian space sector.
Isro on February 13 completed the final round of ground qualification tests for the Gaganyaan mission. “Isro has accomplished a major milestone in the human rating of its CE20 cryogenic engine that powers the cryogenic stage of the human rated LVM3 launch vehicle for Gaganyaan missions, with the completion of the final round of ground qualification tests on February 13, 2024,” the space agency had said in a statement.
“After 40 years, an Indian will go to space. But this time, the time will be Indian, countdown will be Indian, and the rocket will also be Indian,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday while announcing names of four astronaut-designates selected to fly to Low Earth orbit next year as part of Gaganyaan, the country’s first manned mission to space.
![]()
The four astronaut designates are Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Angad Prathap, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan and Wing Commander Shubanshu Shukla.
The last time an Indian astronaut travelled to space was aboard the erstwhile Soviet Union’s Soyuz T-11 spacecraft four decades ago in 1984.
Also read | Who are the four selected Gaganyaan astronauts? Here is all you should know about the four astronauts
“Saare jahaan se achcha (Better than the whole world),” Indian Air Force Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma had told the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when she asked Sharma how India looked from outer space, swelling the hearts of Indians with pride.
Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Gaganyaan mission will seek to demonstrate India’s human spaceflight capability by launching astronauts to Low Earth orbit (LEO) of 400 kms for a three-day mission and bringing them safely to earth with a planned splashdown in Indian sea waters.
Discover the stories of your interest
PM Modi made the announcement while visiting the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, where he handed astronaut wings to the four astronaut designates.The four Indian Air Force pilots have been undergoing training at the space agency’s astronaut training facility in Bengaluru. They were selected at IAF’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine in the city.
Isro and Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of Russian space agency Roscosmos, had signed a memorandum of understanding in June 2019 for training the four astronauts. The astronauts trained at Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre from February 2020 till March 2021 in Russia’s Zvyozdny Gorodok city.
US space agency Nasa will also train an Indian astronaut for a scheduled mission to the International Space Station by December-end 2024, said the agency’s administrator Bill Nelson, during a visit to Delhi in 2023.
“The four astronaut-designates are not just four names or individuals, they are four ‘Shakti’ carrying the aspirations of 140 crore Indians into space. The four astronaut-designates symbolise the trust, courage, valour and discipline of today’s India,” Modi said.
During his visit, PM Modi also inaugurated three projects– trisonic wind tunnel at VSSC, semi-cryogenic integrated engine and stage test facility at Isro’s propulsion complex in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu, and PSLV integration facility at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
These projects have been developed at a total cost of about Rs 1,800 crore with an aim to provide world-class technical facilities to the Indian space sector.
Isro on February 13 completed the final round of ground qualification tests for the Gaganyaan mission. “Isro has accomplished a major milestone in the human rating of its CE20 cryogenic engine that powers the cryogenic stage of the human rated LVM3 launch vehicle for Gaganyaan missions, with the completion of the final round of ground qualification tests on February 13, 2024,” the space agency had said in a statement.
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