Gaganyaan mission: How 4 ISRO astronauts trained in Russia. Watch

Indian astronauts training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia. (Image credit: @ISROSight/X)

The four astronauts who will be a part of the Gaganyaan spacecraft scheduled for launch in 2024–2025 were trained in Russia for 13 months. Group Captain Prashanth Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla underwent generic space flight training at Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, about 30 km north of Moscow.

It is the same centre where Rakesh Sharma -- the first Indian to go into space in 1984 -- was also trained.

Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) was named after the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. It is responsible for training cosmonauts for Russian space missions and offers high-tech space training facilities and survival training for many possible landing situations, including mountains, deserts, marshes, and the sea.

Views from the #Indian astronauts' training programme during their time in Russia.

• Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair
• Group Captain Ajit Krishnan
• Group Captain Angad Prathap
• Wing Commander Shubhansku Shukla#Gaganyaan #ISRO pic.twitter.com/833zX4nLJG

— ISRO InSight (@ISROSight) February 27, 2024

The names of the four designated astronauts were revealed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. He bestowed "astronaut wings" on them and said, "I am happy that today I got the opportunity to meet these astronauts and present them in front of the country. I want to congratulate them on behalf of the entire country... You are the pride of today's India."

The Gaganyaan mission is India’s first human space flight programme for which extensive preparations are underway at various ISRO centres.

According to ISRO, Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members to an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bringing them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.

Read more: Gaganyaan astronauts: Meet the four IAF pilots selected for India's maiden spaceflight mission