Launches
India announces plans for 1st manned space flight by 2027
Upcoming missions, including India's maiden human space flight, represent the country's 'rise as a global space power,' said Jitendra Singh, the country's science and technology minister.
![Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd right) announced the names of the four astronaut designates who are undergoing training for India's first human space flight mission, Gaganyaan, at Vikram Sarabhai Space Center in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala state, on February 27, 2024. They are (from left to right): Indian Air Force group captain Prashant Balakrishnan Nair, group captain Ajit Krishnan, group captain Angad Pratap and wing commander Subhanshu Shukla. [Government of India Press Information Bureau]](/gc8/images/2025/05/07/50402-h20240227154934-370_237.webp)
By BlueShift and AFP |
India's space agency is planning to launch an uncrewed orbital mission later this year before its first human spaceflight in early 2027, officials announced May 6.
"The successful completion of the TV-D1 mission and the first uncrewed Test Vehicle Abort Mission earlier this year have laid a strong foundation for the upcoming test schedule," said Jitendra Singh, the country's science and technology minister, according to NDTV.
The second test vehicle mission (TV-D2) is slated for later this year.
'Global space power'
"It represents India's rise as a global space power," Singh said in a statement.
India has flexed its spacefaring ambitions in the last decade with its space program growing considerably in size and momentum.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced plans to send a man to the Moon by 2040.
"The uncrewed orbital Gaganyaan ("space craft") mission is on track for launch later this year, with recovery trials already conducted with the Indian Navy, and more sea recovery simulations planned," the Department of Space said in a statement.
Along with other tests, this work will lead to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) sending astronauts into space.
"These milestones will culminate in India's maiden human spaceflight in 2027, launching Indian astronauts into orbit aboard an Indian rocket from Indian soil," it said.
"Training of astronauts is also progressing steadily," it added.
"Four Indian Air Force pilots, selected as astronaut-designates, have completed training in Russia and are undergoing further mission-specific training in India."
ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said the spaceflight was scheduled for "the first quarter of 2027."
India's future in space
India has matched the achievements of established powers at a much cheaper price tag.
In August 2023, it became just the fourth nation to land an unmanned craft on the Moon after Russia, the United States and China.
This month, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, 39, is expected to fly to the International Space Station -- becoming the first Indian astronaut to do so and the second in orbit ever.
The mission, a joint undertaking of NASA and ISRO, will be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Shukla, who is set to pilot the Axiom Mission 4, is likely among the top candidates for ISRO's spaceflight program.
Shukla's travel to space will come four decades after India's Rakesh Sharma's iconic spaceflight onboard a Russian spacecraft in 1984.