On 3 April 1984, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to travel to space. He traveled on board Soyuz T-11 to the space station Salyut 7 as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme.[1] In the late 2000s, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that it is working on the technologies required for sending humans to space as a part of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.[2][3]
In 2018, the Government of India formally announced the launch of the Gaganyaan programme, which aimed to put a man in space by 2022.[4] However, the plans were delayed partly due to the impact of COVID-19.[5] As per the revised timelines, the first crewed flight is planned as a part of Gaganyaan-4, scheduled to launch in 2027.[6][7]) On 27 February 2024, four men (Gaganyatri) – Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap, Prasanth Nair, and Shubhanshu Shukla, from the Indian Air Force were announced as candidates for the human spaceflight programme.[8] They trained at Russia's Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, where Sharma had trained in 1984.[9] Nair and Shukla trained at NASA facilities in preparation for their participation in the Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station.[10] Shukla flew to space on 25 June 2025 as a part of the mission,[11][12] while Nair was his backup.[13]
On 19 May 2024, Gopichand Thotakura became the first Indian to take a suborbital flight to space, as a part of the Blue Origin NS-25 mission.[14]
List[edit | edit source]
Apart from the Indians who had traveled to space, the list also includes those who have trained for space travel but have not traveled to space.[lower-alpha 1]
| Interkosmos Program | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Image | Birth | Time in Space | Missions | Notes |
| Rakesh Sharma | 
|
13 January 1949 | 7 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes | Template:Country data USSRTemplate:Preview warning Soyuz T-11 (3 April 1984) |
|
| Ravish Malhotra | 
|
25 December 1943 | N/A | N/A |
|
| Suborbital Flight | |||||
| Gopichand Thotakura | 1993 | 9 minutes, 53 seconds |  Blue Origin NS-25 (19 May 2024)
|
| |
| Indian Human Spaceflight Programme | |||||
| Name | Image | Birth | Time in Space | Missions | Notes |
| Shubhanshu Shukla | 
|
10 October 1985 | 20 days, 2 hours and 59 minutes | Axiom Mission 4 (25 June 2025) |
|
| Prasanth Nair | 
|
26 August 1976 | N/A | N/A |
|
| Ajit Krishnan | 
|
19 April 1982 | N/A | N/A |
|
| Angad Pratap | 
|
17 July 1982 | N/A | N/A |
|
See also[edit | edit source]
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Technically, the term 'astronaut' refers to only persons trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program as a crew member of a spacecraft.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Srinivasan, Pankaja (4 April 2010). "The down to earth Rakesh Sharma". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ↑ "ISRO considering manned space mission: Nair". The Hindu. 9 August 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- ↑ "India announces first manned space mission". BBC News. 27 January 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ↑ "Indian will take national flag to space on board Gaganyaan by 2022, says PM Narendra Modi in Independence Day speech". The Hindustan Times. 15 August 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ↑ Kumar, Chethan (11 June 2020). "Gaganyaan mission: No Gaganyaan unmanned flight this year". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ↑ "India delays its 1st-ever Gaganyaan astronaut launch to 2026". Space.com. 4 November 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ↑ "India's Gaganyaan Mission in final phase, maiden crew launch in early 2027". India Today. 6 May 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
- ↑ "Astronauts on Isro's Gaganyaan mission trained at same centre in Russia where Rakesh Sharma underwent training". The Times of India. 27 February 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- ↑ "Gaganyaan Mission: How 4 Indian astronauts were trained in Russia - Gaganyaan astronauts named". The Economic Times. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- ↑ "2 Gaganyaan astronauts to go to ISS aboard the Axiom Mission 4". The Indian Express. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
- ↑ "Shubhanshu Shukla: Astronaut becomes first Indian to set foot on ISS". BBC News. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ↑ "Gaganyatri Shubhanshu Shukla called Dr V Narayanan, Chairman, ISRO and acknowledged the efforts of the ISRO team in ensuring his safe travel to the ISS". ISRO (Press release). Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ↑ "Who is Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the 'prime astronaut' for Indo-US mission to space?". The Indian Express. 3 August 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ↑ John, Nirmal (12 April 2024). "Meet Gopichand Thotakura, the 2nd Indian citizen in space after Rakesh Sharma". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 29 October 2024.