Preparing to join their names in history books with Rakesh Sharma, the air force captain who became the first Indian in space in 1984, are Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla — the astronaut-designates for India’s first human space flight mission, Gaganyaan. Having trained in anonymity for the last four years, they received their “astronaut wings” on February 27 at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thumba, Kerala, from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who described them as “the four forces” representing the dreams of 1.4 billion Indians. What may have seemed like a dream almost too big, has acquired a human dimension.
Announced in 2018, Gaganyaan is one of India’s most ambitious space programmes. The task of sending humans into the vast unknown and bringing them back safely is more expensive and challenging than the Mars and Moon missions. A successful execution would put India in the company of the US, Russia and China. As stated on the ISRO website, the short-term goal is to demonstrate human spaceflight to Low Earth Orbit, while the long-term goal is to lay the foundation for a “sustained Indian human space exploration programme”. Success in its ultimate objective — proving that India is capable of indigenously developing this complex technology — would be a huge boost for ISRO.
