From Russia to Axiom-4: Indian astronauts face challenge of adapting lessons to Gaganyaan mission

With the Gaganyaan mission being the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) first human spaceflight mission, and intended to be a permanent programme for India, there is a need to evolve the best systems to ensure safe space travel and return for the astronauts, the astronauts said.

“Most of the time, as of now, we are sitting with people to discuss the systems. We have very rich experience because of the training in GCTC on the Soyuz capsule (in Russia in 2020) and eventually having the experience of flying the Crew Dragon (crew module on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in 2025),” Shukla said. “Both these experiences give you a very good insight into what systems should look like and how we should evolve for our own programme,” he added.

The astronauts selected for the Gaganyaan mission in 2019 initially underwent training in Russia on the Soyuz modules, and Shukla and Nair were closely associated with the US Axiom 4 mission last year with the Dragon Crew module of SpaceX.

“All the protocols and all simulations and the entire system (for Gaganyaan) is being done by taking the best practices of the main space-faring nations, which is the USA and Russia, and we are making sure that the technologies we are developing are validated before they are used and that is why it is taking a certain amount of time,” Nair said on Wednesday.

“The four of us as test pilots have a certain amount of responsibility to the entire country, which goes 30 years down the line. Think about it as equal to a time when Yuri Gagarin or Neil Armstrong were developing their own protocols,” he said.

Challenge of adapting learnings to the Gaganyaan mission

“The challenge at present—and this is part of our daily training also—is that we sit together and consider the entire protocol of what is required from the human-rated launch pad, since launching a human space mission is different from a satellite launch, as factors like emergency escapes have to be considered,” Nair said.

“We have to consider the human rating of the entire rocket system and understand that when you are making something new, you become judge and jury yourself till the protocols are set in place. Nobody will give you the technologies; you have to make it, fly it, validate it and make the procedures,” the astronaut said.

The entire rocket for the Gaganyaan mission is different to the Axiom 4 and Soyuz missions, he pointed out. “The chassis is completely different. The engine is different; the propellants, whether solid or liquid, are different. It is our own home-built rocket. The launch pad is different, although you can say that it is only in terms of a geographical location,” Nair said.

“We are also developing a crew escape system which is adopted on the lines of what is in the Soyuz, and the Chinese have also taken the same model—unlike the Crew Dragon approach (of SpaceX in the US),” the astronaut said.

“We have certain tie-ups for the seat and the suit and other things with Russia, where we had undergone our training. The environment control and life support system is totally developed indigenously by us,” he said.

With the astronaut programme not intended to be a one-time event but a long-term programme of Isro, the Gaganyaan programme is intended to progress to the Bharatiya Antariksh Mission—an Indian space station—to a landing on the Moon, the astronauts said.

“You must appreciate the fact that we are only the fourth country to do it in the world. There are certain ethics also that India follows when we try to do something—although people say do not try to reinvent the wheel—but India likes to do it in such a way that the technology is used to develop the entire ecosystem,” Nair said.

Collaboration key to space exploration

Both astronauts emphasised that collaboration between space-faring countries is essential for space exploration

“The experience that I have had ever since I got into this business of space flight—earlier in Russia and now in the US also—what I have very clearly understood is that collaboration is the bedrock of space exploration. There is no other way,” said Shukla.

India and the US have special synergy on account of being technically advanced and “the fact that the two countries are democracies with common ideals in times of good visionary leadership,” Nair said. “Men, machines and their procedures are only as good as the guidance given by the overarching leadership,” he added.

“Space is a symbol of the times to come, and a space where India and the US actually have fantastic opportunities. The structure of Artemis (Accords of 2023) is already there, and other than that, in the present world, rather than having even higher umbrella organisations it is one-to-one country agreements that have higher payoffs. It is the right time for India and the US in the space sector, and through the space sector, the emergence of our individual economies in the high-tech sector,” Nair elaborated.

New ways of thinking of space

The astronauts indicated that space is now being imagined in ways that move beyond mere accessibility, which has largely defined spacefaring until now.

“What is required is a revolution in space affairs. We need to think beyond the rockets and satellites that we use to access space. Till now, we have only been thinking of reaching there, so the focus has been on rockets, satellites, launch pads. When somebody says let us have an orbital data centre in space (Elon Musk), it changes the entire paradigm,” said Nair.

“It would be naive to think that defence is not a factor in space, but a better way of thinking about it as the collective security among like-minded countries who have utilised this space, who have high-tech cutting-edge defence, space, and other high-tech collaborations,” he said.

International experience intended to boost Gaganyaan programme

When India’s participation in the US Axiom-4 space mission was initially announced in 2023, Isro scientists said it would provide invaluable firsthand experience that would prepare Indian astronauts and the Indian space agency for the country’s maiden human spaceflight, originally targeted for 2022.

“We have to discuss (with the Indian astronauts) and find out the various features—how they sit, how they handle, how they dress, how they control emergencies, how they handle oxygen deficiencies, how they handle replacements. There are so many issues in a cockpit, like environment, and if we have more and more experienced people, our designs will be better. We see it as a possibility,” Isro chairman S Somanath said in 2023.

“The experiences gained during this mission will be beneficial for the Indian human space programme, and it will also strengthen human space flight cooperation between Isro and Nasa,” Isro had said when the Axiom-4 mission was announced.

Isro has targeted two unmanned missions as tests for the Gaganyaan mission before the main mission, now projected for 2027 by Isro chairman V Narayanan on the sidelines of the India-US Space Forum this week.

The Gaganyaan project aims to demonstrate Indian human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of around three members into a 400 km orbit on a three-day mission, with the objective of ensuring their safe return to Earth by landing in Indian sea waters.