On April 2, 1984, Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Rakesh Sharma reached low Earth orbit aboard a Soviet rocket for a weeklong stay on the Salyut 7 space station. This made him the first and only Indian citizen to venture into space. Now, almost 36 years later, the country that was once dependent on the Soviets for getting into orbit is inching toward its very own human spaceflight program — one that aims to launch its first crewed flight, called Gaganyaan, in December 2021.
With a goal to demonstrate India’s homegrown technology, for the first time in history the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch three astronauts into low Earth orbit for a minimum of one week. This will be a historic moment for India, retired ISRO scientist Kashyap Mankad explained to Astronomy, one that the country will long remember.
Off to a Rocky Start
ISRO’s goal to send Indian astronauts into space is not entirely new. While NASA has launched hundreds of astronauts into space in recent decades, ISRO’s most recent (unsuccessful) plan was in 1986. At the time, the organization had prepared to launch two payload specialists aboard one of NASA’s space shuttles. But the Challenger disaster and NASA’s subsequent pause in crewed flights brought ISRO’s plans to a grinding halt. This led ISRO to redirect its funding toward indigenous launch vehicles, pushing its crewed missions to the sidelines.
