A space station is a spacecraft which remains in orbit and hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring habitation facilities. The purpose of maintaining a space station varies depending on the program. Most often space stations have been research stations, but they have also served military or commercial uses, such as hosting space tourists.
Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, AC is an Indian astronaut and a former Indian Air Force officer. He flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on 3 April 1984 as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme. He is the only Indian citizen to travel in space, although there have been other astronauts of Indian origin who travelled to space, who were not Indian citizens. Another Air Force pilot, Ravish Malhotra, was placed on standby.
Indian Space Research Organisation is India's national space agency. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), overseen by the Prime Minister of India, with the Chairman of ISRO also serving as the chief executive of the DoS. It is primarily responsible for space-based operations, space exploration, international space cooperation and the development of related technologies. The agency maintains a constellation of imaging, communication and remote sensing satellites. It operates the GAGAN and IRNSS satellite navigation systems. It has sent three missions to the Moon and one mission to Mars.
Sunita Lyn "Suni" Williams is an American astronaut, retired U.S. Navy officer, and former record holder for most spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalk time for a woman. Williams was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and Expedition 15. In 2012, she served as a flight engineer on Expedition 32 and then commander of Expedition 33. In 2024, she returned to the ISS on the Boeing Crew Flight Test, the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner; her return to Earth has been delayed until February 2025. As such, from August 2024 until February 2025, Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore are pivoting ahead to undertake various scientific experiments and maintenance tasks aboard the International Space Station.
Satish Dhawan Space Centre – SDSC, is the primary spaceport of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), located in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
The Launch Vehicle Mark-3 or LVM3 is a three-stage medium-lift launch vehicle developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Primarily designed to launch communication satellites into geostationary orbit, it is also due to launch crewed missions under the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. LVM3 has a higher payload capacity than its predecessor, GSLV.
The Human Rated Launch Vehicle is an ongoing programme by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to develop the technology needed to launch crewed orbital spacecraft into low Earth orbit. Three uncrewed flights, named Gaganyaan-1, Gaganyaan-2 and Gaganyaan-3 are scheduled to launch in 2024, followed by crewed flight in 2024 on an HLVM3 rocket.
Human-rating certification, also known as man-rating or crew-rating, is the certification of a spacecraft or launch vehicle as capable of safely transporting humans. There is no one particular standard for human-rating a spacecraft or launch vehicle, and the various entities that launch or plan to launch such spacecraft specify requirements for their particular systems to be human-rated.
Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The spacecraft is being designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capabilities. In its maiden crewed mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s largely autonomous 5.3-metric ton capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 km altitude for up to seven days with a two- or three-person crew on board. The first crewed mission was originally planned to be launched on ISRO's HLVM3 rocket in December 2021. As of October 2023, it is expected to be launched by 2025.
The Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) is a body under the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to coordinate the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The agency will be responsible for implementation of the Gaganyaan project. The first crewed flight is planned for 2024 on a home-grown LVM3 rocket.
Vyommitra is a female humanoid robot designed for space travel. She was designed at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala and developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to function aboard the spacecraft Gaganyaan, a crewed orbital spacecraft. Vyommitra was first unveiled on 22 January 2020 at the Human Spaceflight and Exploration Symposium in Bengaluru.
Gaganyaan-1 will be the first uncrewed test flight of the Gaganyaan programme, with launch planned for December 2024.
The Bharatiya Antariksha Station, is a planned modular space station to be constructed by India and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The space station would weigh 52 tonnes and maintain an orbit of approximately 400 kilometres above the Earth, where astronauts could stay for 3-6 months. Originally planned to be completed by 2030, it was later postponed to 2035 due to delays caused by technical issues related with the Gaganyaan crewed spaceflight mission and the COVID-19 pandemic in India. As of December 2023, the first module is expected to be launched in 2028 on an LVM3 launch vehicle, with the remaining modules to be launched by 2035 on the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (Soorya).
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is an Indian Air Force test pilot and one of the four astronaut candidates who will fly to space as part of India's first crewed flights into space.
Gaganyaan-4 will be the first crewed test flight of the Gaganyaan programme, with launch planned for 2025.
Group CaptainPrasanth Balakrishnan Nair is a qualified flight instructor and a test pilot in the Indian Air Force. Nair is one of the four designated astronauts trained by ISRO to fly aboard the Gaganyaan crewed flight.
Soyuz T-11/10 (3 April 1984)
