NEW DELHI: Sharing an update on an Indian astronaut going to space in coming weeks, space minister Jitendra Singh has told Lok Sabha that “one Gaganyaatri from Isro will undertake space travel to the International Space Station (ISS)”.
In a written reply to the Lower House on Wednesday, the minister said the Indian space agency is “pursuing an Isro-Nasa joint mission to ISS wherein one Gaganyatri from Isro will undertake space travel to ISS.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 reply came on the Lok Sabha query of Trinamool Congress MLA Saugata Roy about the “Axiom-4 Mission”, astronauts and the Gaganyaan mission. Nasa said the space agency and Axiom Space have signed an order for the fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS, “targeted to launch no earlier than August 2024 from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida”. The Gaganyatri for the ISS mission will be one of the four IAF pilots being trained for the Gaganyaan mission.
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. Currently, Indian astronauts are undergoing training at Isro’s Astronauts Training Facility in Bengaluru for the Gaganyaan mission, the minister informed. On the Gaganyaan training, Singh said, “Two out of three semesters of the (Gaganyatri) training programme were completed. Independent training simulator and static mockup simulators (have been) realised.”
On the vehicle that will put astronauts in space, Jitendra Singh said “solid and liquid propulsion stages of human-rated launch vehicle are ready for flight integration. C32 cryogenic stage is nearing completion. Crew module and service module structure realisation has been completed and flight integration activities are in progress.”
The Gaganyaan project is Isro’s big-ticket mission that envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members into an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bringing them safely back to the Earth by landing in Indian waters. The mission is expected to be launched in 2025.
In a written reply to the Lower House on Wednesday, the minister said the Indian space agency is “pursuing an Isro-Nasa joint mission to ISS wherein one Gaganyatri from Isro will undertake space travel to ISS.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 reply came on the Lok Sabha query of Trinamool Congress MLA Saugata Roy about the “Axiom-4 Mission”, astronauts and the Gaganyaan mission. Nasa said the space agency and Axiom Space have signed an order for the fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS, “targeted to launch no earlier than August 2024 from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida”. The Gaganyatri for the ISS mission will be one of the four IAF pilots being trained for the Gaganyaan mission.
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. Currently, Indian astronauts are undergoing training at Isro’s Astronauts Training Facility in Bengaluru for the Gaganyaan mission, the minister informed. On the Gaganyaan training, Singh said, “Two out of three semesters of the (Gaganyatri) training programme were completed. Independent training simulator and static mockup simulators (have been) realised.”
On the vehicle that will put astronauts in space, Jitendra Singh said “solid and liquid propulsion stages of human-rated launch vehicle are ready for flight integration. C32 cryogenic stage is nearing completion. Crew module and service module structure realisation has been completed and flight integration activities are in progress.”
The Gaganyaan project is Isro’s big-ticket mission that envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members into an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bringing them safely back to the Earth by landing in Indian waters. The mission is expected to be launched in 2025.