NEW DELHI, Feb 28 (NNN-PTI) – The Indian government, yesterday, unveiled four Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots, as astronaut-designates for the nation’s first human spaceflight mission, with the spacecraft Gaganyaan, scheduled for next year.
Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, unveiled the astronauts during an event at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of the southern state of Kerala.
“After 40 years, an Indian is going to space. But now, the time, the countdown and the rocket are ours,” said Modi.
Previously in 1984, an Indian national went to space as part of a Soviet mission.
The Gaganyaan mission aims to send three astronauts to an orbit of 400 km, for a three-day mission, and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.
Meanwhile, Modi stated that, by 2035 India will have its own space station.– NNN-PTI
