Gaganyaan Mission

WHY IN NEWS?

Four cosmonauts shortlisted for Gaganyaan - India's first manned space mission have resumed their training in Russia after it was put on hold due to COVID-19 scare.

ABOUT GAGANYAAN

• ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) aims to launch its maiden Human Space Mission Gaganyaan before the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in 2022.
• It is a crewed orbital spacecraft mission that is expected to take three astronauts to space for a period of seven days.
• ISRO's Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) will be used for the manned space mission.
• The spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400 km.  
• For the mission, India's space agency is planning to carry out two unmanned missions in December 2020 and July 2021, followed by the manned mission by December 2021.
• The Mission is expected to source nearly 60% of its equipment from the Indian private sector, which can be a boost to private sector.
• For Gaganyaan, ISRO signed an agreement with Russia's Glavkosmos to select and train Indian astronauts for the space mission.
• The crew will first undergo medical examination followed by rigorous physical training is to get astronauts accustomed to gravitational changes which will cause physiological alterations.