The Gaganyatris
On 27 February 2024, India revealed its four astronaut-designates — all seasoned Indian Air Force test pilots. They trained at Russia's Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre and continue training at ISRO's Astronaut Training Facility in Bengaluru.
Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair
Fighter pilot and flight instructor from Kerala with over 3,000 flying hours. Backup for Axiom-4 and Kirti Chakra awardee.
Ajit Krishnan
Test pilot from Tamil Nadu, decorated with the President's Gold Medal and Sword of Honour at the Air Force Academy.
Angad Pratap
Test pilot from Prayagraj with wide experience across fighters and transport aircraft — from Su-30s to An-32s.
Shubhanshu Shukla
Test pilot from Lucknow — in 2025 the first Indian aboard the International Space Station, decorated with the Ashoka Chakra in 2026.
★ Flew to the ISS · Axiom-4A head start in orbit: Axiom Mission 4
Before Gaganyaan flies, India already has fresh human spaceflight experience.
On 25 June 2025, Shubhanshu Shukla lifted off from Kennedy Space Center as pilot of Axiom Mission 4, a private mission to the International Space Station flown on a SpaceX Dragon. He spent 18 days aboard the ISS — the first Indian ever to visit the station and only the second Indian in space — carrying out experiments designed by ISRO and Indian institutions on muscle loss, microbial adaptation, crop seeds and more, before splashing down safely on 15 July 2025.
The lessons from Axiom-4 — training, operations, science and recovery — feed directly into Gaganyaan's first crewed flight.
Standing on the shoulders of 1984
India's spacefaring story began with Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who flew to the Salyut 7 space station aboard Soyuz T-11 on 3 April 1984 under the Indo-Soviet Interkosmos programme. Asked from orbit how India looked from space, his reply became legend: "Saare Jahan Se Achha" — better than the whole world.
Gaganyaan's gaganyatris will be the first Indians to reach space on an Indian rocket.
Training for the mission
Russia, 2020–21
Thirteen months of generic spaceflight training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre near Moscow — centrifuges, survival training and microgravity basics.
Bengaluru
Mission-specific training at ISRO's Astronaut Training Facility: Gaganyaan simulators, crew module mock-ups, and yoga as part of fitness routines.
Sea Recovery
Splashdown egress and survival drills with the Indian Navy at the Water Survival Training Facility in Kochi.