NEW DELHU: The names of the four test pilots, being trained for India’s first human spaceflight mission ‘Gaganyaan’, will be announced by PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday when he visits the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Kerala. 2-3 pilots will finally be chosen for the mission, a source told TOI.
PM Modi will visit VSSC in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday to review preparations for the Gaganyaan programme and bestow ‘astronaut wings’ to the pilots.The four pilots have completed their one-year training course in Russia’s Zvyozdny Gorodok city during the pandemic and are now based in a unit of Isro getting familiar with the intricacies of the Gaganyaan mission.

He will also inaugurate three important space infrastructure projects worth about Rs 1,800 crore, PMO said in a statement on Monday.

The three projects include PSLV integration facility at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota; semi-cryogenics integrated engine and stage test facility at Isro propulsion complex in Mahendragiri; and Trisonic wind tunnel at VSSC. The PSLV integration facility will help in boosting the frequency of PSLV launches from 6 to 15 per year. It can also cater to the launches of (mini-PSLV) small satellite launch vehicles and other small launch vehicles designed by private space companies, the PMO said.
The source also informed that a pilot will be shortlisted from these four for the International Space Station (ISS) mission, as agreed between Isro and Nasa, during the PM’s state visit to the US. “This mission will be planned ahead of India’s human spaceflight mission so as to give the astronaut(s) enough opportunity to learn from the ISS mission to plan well for Gaganyaan,” he said.
“Series of Gaganyaan tests have been planned before the final mission. Currently, Isro is working on three un-crewed missions — LVM3-G1 , LVM3-G2 and Vyommitra (humanoid) mission — that are independent of each other. One mission will be launched (by this year) based on the readiness of different subsystems and qualifications,” the source told TOI.