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6h ago

India Opens Astronaut Pool Beyond Air Force as Gaganyatris Are Honoured and Shukla Returns to Lucknow

The inclusive pool and public outreach mark a drive to build long-term human spaceflight capacity using lessons from Axiom‑4 to advance Gaganyaan and a national space station.

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Overview

  • Officials confirmed the creation of a standing astronaut pool open beyond the Air Force and inclusive of women, with the Prime Minister encouraging youth to join and suggesting a target of about 40–50 candidates.
  • The government’s roadmap keeps Gaganyaan targeted for 2027, plans the Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035 and a crewed lunar mission by 2040, with eight Gaganyaan flights approved and a push toward roughly 50 launches a year via private-sector participation.
  • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh felicitated the four Gaganyatris—Group Captains Shubhanshu Shukla, P. V. Nair, Ajit Krishnan and Angad Pratap—praising their training and calling the mission a new chapter for a self-reliant India.
  • Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian to visit the ISS on Axiom‑4, said his experience and India‑led experiments will inform upcoming missions and that he will work with ISRO as preparations continue.
  • Shukla received a hero’s welcome in Lucknow on Monday, with state leaders greeting him at the airport and a separate felicitation by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath scheduled for later in the day.