Revealing India's space pioneers: Meet the astronauts of the Gaganyaan Mission

In a significant development, the Indian Air Force (IAF) unveiled an official video as part of its 91st-anniversary celebrations, offering a glimpse of the astronaut designates chosen for Gaganyaan, India's maiden human spaceflight mission.

The IAF's Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) played a pivotal role in selecting these individuals, maintaining utmost secrecy around their identities. Although the IAF video does not reveal the astronauts' faces, it showcases their rigorous training in a brief clip. An IAF spokesperson confirmed to TOI that the individuals featured in the video are indeed the chosen participants for the Gaganyaan mission.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has yet to make an official decision on whether the initial crewed Gaganyaan mission will comprise two or three astronauts. However, one of these selected astronauts may embark on a space journey even before the Gaganyaan mission commences, thanks to the collaborative efforts between India and the United States.



During his recent state visit to the United States, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that an Indian astronaut could become part of a NASA mission to the International Space Station (ISS). ISRO Chairman S. Somanath, speaking with TOI, indicated that the Gaganyaan astronauts could potentially be chosen for the ISS mission, with the specific details yet to be finalized.

India's astronaut selection process began with around 60 IAF test pilots, from which 12 successfully cleared the "Level-1" selection conducted by IAM. The final four astronaut designates were chosen in 2019. These select few have since undergone intensive training, initially completing basic training at Russia's Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) and subsequently participating in mission-specific training conducted in India.

A dedicated training facility has been established near the old airport road in Bengaluru, in close proximity to the HAL airport. Additionally, the astronaut designates will undertake various training modules in different parts of the country as they prepare for their momentous space mission.