List of Indian astronauts
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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
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.[a]
| Interkosmos Program | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Image | Birth | Time in Space | Missions | Notes |
| Rakesh Sharma |  |
13 January 1949 | 7 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes |  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
Notes
- Technically, the term 'astronaut' refers to only persons trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program as a crew member of a spacecraft.