Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla to be India’s ‘gaganyatri’ to space station

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will be launching Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla as India's gaganyatri into the International Space Station (ISS). The development came after India's national space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), entered into a space flight agreement with Axiom Space Inc, USA for its Axiom-4 mission.

A National Mission Assignment Board had earlier recommended Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla as prime gaganyatri and Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair as the backup mission pilot for this mission.

"The assigned crewmembers will be finally approved to fly to the International Space Station by the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP). The recommended gaganyatris will commence their training for the mission from the first week of August 2024,” ISRO said in a statement.

During the mission, the gaganyatris will conduct selected scientific research and technology demonstration experiments on board the ISS, as well as participate in space outreach activities. The experiences gained during this mission will be beneficial for the Indian Human Space Programme and it will also strengthen human space flight cooperation between ISRO and NASA,” the ISRO said.

The collaboration between the United States and India to send an Indian astronaut to the ISS in 2024 was announced when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US last year. The Astronaut Selection Board of India had then selected four astronauts from the group of test pilots from the Indian Air Force (IAF) – Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan, Group Captain Ajith Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, Wing Commader Shubhanshu Shukla – for the Gaganyaan mission.

“All four astronauts have undergone training on a spaceflight basic module in Russia. Currently, astronauts are undergoing training at ISRO's Astronauts Training Facility (ATF) in Bengaluru for the Gaganyaan Mission,” Union Minister Jitendra Singh had informed the Lok Sabha on July 27.

(With agency inputs)