- Russia will select and train four Indian astronauts for the Gaganyaan Mission. In June, Roscosmos subsidiary Glavkosmos and ISRO had signed a contract for the selection and training of Indian astronauts for the Gaganyaan Mission.
- Gaganyaan is India’s first Human Space Flight Programme to be launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) by 2022.
- The programme will make India the fourth nation in the world to launch a Human Spaceflight Mission. So far, only the USA, Russia and China have launched human spaceflight missions.
- According to ISRO, most of the indigenously developed technologies required for the mission has already been tested. These include crew module re-entry, crew escape mechanism in case of a glitch during launch, a deep space network and the astronaut’s space suit.
- Space launch vehicle, GSLV MK III will be used for the Gaganyaan mission. It has been modified to fit a crew module and life support to carry astronauts to space.
