Gaganyaan mission: 90% of development work completed, says ISRO Chairman

admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 11:33:00 +0000

ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan, with Rajarajan A (left), Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), and M Ganesh Pillai, Scientific Secretary of ISRO, at a press conference on Curtain Raiser Event of the Emerging Science, Technology & Innovation Conclave (ESTIC – 2025), at ISRO HQ, in Bengaluru on October 23, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Murali Kumar K

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman V. Narayanan on Thursday (October 23, 2025) said that about 90% of the development work on the Gaganyaan mission has been completed.

“The Gangyaan mission is going on very well. A lot of technological development has to take place. Number one the rocket has to be human rated, the life support system, the crew escape system and of course human centric products. I can say today that approximately 90% of the development work has been completed,” Mr. Narayanan told reporters in Bengaluru.

He added that the crewed mission to launch the Indian astronauts into space will take place in 2027 and prior to that ISRO will undertake three uncrewed missions.

“Three uncrewed missions have to be accomplished, the first uncrewed mission with the humanoid Vyomitra is expected to take flight by the end of this year. We want to accomplish the crewed mission by 2027,” he said.

The Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members to an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bringing them back safely to Earth by landing in Indian sea waters.

On the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite launched on July 30, 2025, Mr. Narayanan said that the satellite is healthy and it would be declared operational in another 10-15 days.

‘Totally healthy’

“Initial input states that the satellite is totally healthy and both the payloads are working well,” he said.

NISAR is the first satellite to observe the earth with a dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) — NASA’s L-band and ISRO’s S-band — both using NASA’s 12-metre unfurlable mesh reflector antenna, integrated with ISRO’s modified I3K satellite bus.

The NISAR satellite will scan the earth and provide all-weather, day-and-night data at 12-day intervals, and enable a wide range of applications.

NVS-02 satellite

On the NVS-02 satellite which suffered a technical glitch as ISRO was unable to perform the intended orbit raising operations due to a valve malfunction, the ISRO Chairman said, “The NVS-02 satellite has gone to the elliptical orbit and we could not take it to circular orbit because of a valve malfunction. The failure analysis committee has completed the investigation and zeroed down on the fault. The recommendation of the committee will be placed before the Government.”

Published – October 23, 2025 05:03 pm IST

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India selects two astronaut-designates for upcoming Axiom-4 mission to International Space Station

admin — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 14:32:08 +0000

Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair (left) and Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

India has shortlisted two astronaut-designates for the upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station. Indian astronauts Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair have been shortlisted to go to the U.S. to train for the upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

A National Mission Assignment Board has recommended two Gaganyatris (astronauts) as prime and backup Mission Pilot for this mission. Group Captain Shukla will be the prime mission pilot and Group Captain Nair will be the back up.

The Axiom-4 mission is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station.

It can be recalled that the India-U.S. joint statement during the official state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the U.S. in June 2023 envisions a joint ISRO-NASA effort to the ISS.

“Towards the goal of mounting a joint ISRO-NASA effort, the Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) of ISRO has entered into a Space Flight Agreement (SFA) with NASA-identified service provider M/s Axiom Space Inc., USA for its upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the ISS,” ISRO said,

ISRO added that the assigned crew members 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 1st week of August 2024. During the mission, the Gaganyatri will undertake selected scientific research and technology demonstration experiments on board the ISS as well as engage in space outreach activities. The experiences gained during this mission will be beneficial for the Indian Human Space Program and it will also strengthen human space flight cooperation between ISRO and NASA,” ISRO said.

Group Captain Shukla and Group Captain Nair are among the four astronauts-designates selected for India’s Gaganyaan mission.

Group Captain Shukla is an alumnus of NDA and was commissioned on June 17, 2006 in the fighter stream of IAF. He is a Fighter Combat Leader and a Test Pilot with approx 2000 hrs of flying experience. He has flown a variety of aircraft including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, An-32 etc.

Group Captain Nair is alumnus of NDA and recipient of Sword of Honour at Air Force Academy. He was commissioned on December 19, 1998 in the fighter stream of IAF. He is a Cat A Flying Instructor and a Test Pilot with approx 3000 hours of flying experience. He has flown a variety of ac including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Hawk, Dornier, An-32, etc. He is also an alumnus of United States Staff College and a DS at DSSC, Wellington and FIS, Tambaram. He has commanded a premier fighter Su-30 Squadron.

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India Gaganyaan mission – Artifex.News

Gaganyaan mission: 90% of development work completed, says ISRO Chairman

‘Totally healthy’

NVS-02 satellite

India selects two astronaut-designates for upcoming Axiom-4 mission to International Space Station