More than a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced during his official state visit to the US that an Indian astronaut would travel to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a US mission, ISRO has signed a Space Flight Agreement (SFA) with Axiom Space.
This agreement will send Group Captains Prashanth Nair and Shubhanshu Shukla on the mission.
ISRO’s Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) has recommended Shukla as the primary Mission Pilot, with Nair as the backup. Final approval for their ISS mission will come from the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP).
Both Nair and Shukla are among the four astronaut-designates selected for India’s Gaganyaan mission, which aims to send astronauts to space and bring them back safely. Work on the Gaganyaan programme is ongoing.
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The agreement with Axiom Space, a NASA-designated service provider, pertains to the upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the ISS. ISRO noted, “This collaboration follows the joint statement made during PM Modi’s state visit to the US in June 2023, which envisioned a joint ISRO-NASA effort on the ISS.”
Training for the selected astronauts will begin in the first week of August 2024. While on the ISS, they will conduct scientific research, technology demonstrations, and participate in space outreach activities. This mission is expected to provide valuable experience for India’s Human Space Program and strengthen spaceflight cooperation between ISRO and NASA.
This collaboration is a significant milestone in India’s space exploration efforts and highlights the growing partnership between India and the US in space research and technology. As the mission advances, it is likely to generate substantial interest both domestically and internationally, potentially paving the way for future joint ventures in space exploration.
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