Gaganyaan

Mission Profile

Prime Contractors

Companies that built, launched, or operate this mission. Tickers link to their investor profile.

• Indian Space Research Organisation
• HAL.NSHindustan Aeronautics Limited
• LT.NSLarsen & Toubro
• Godrej Aerospace

Overview

Gaganyaan is India's first crewed spaceflight program — the country's bid to become the fourth nation to launch its own astronauts on its own rocket from its own soil, after the Soviet Union, the United States, and China. The flagship orbital mission, expected in 2027, will carry three Indian Air Force test pilots — Group Captains Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla, announced in February 2024 — to roughly 400 km altitude for a three-day flight before splashing down in the Bay of Bengal. The vehicle stack consists of a human-rated LVM3 (HLVM3) launcher and a 5,300-kg crew module derived from the Crew Module Atmospheric Reentry Experiment (CARE) test article that flew successfully in 2014. Three uncrewed precursor flights are planned, the first of which (G1) is targeted for late 2026 and will carry the Vyommitra humanoid robot for system validation. ISRO is also building the Bharatiya Antariksh Station — India's planned space station — with the first module targeted for 2028 and full assembly by 2035, alongside an ambitious follow-on goal of an Indian crewed lunar landing by 2040. Shubhanshu Shukla served as a precursor experience-builder on the Axiom 4 mission to ISS in 2025, becoming the first Indian to visit the International Space Station.

Key Milestones

1. 2018-08-15

   PM Modi announces Gaganyaan target of 2022

2. 2023-10-21

   TV-D1 in-flight abort test successful

3. 2024-02-27

   ISRO announces four Gaganyaan astronauts

4. 2025-06-25

   Shubhanshu Shukla launches on Axiom 4 to ISS

5. TBD ~2026

   G1 uncrewed orbital test flight

6. TBD ~2027

   First crewed Gaganyaan mission

Related Missions

Sources

1. ISRO — Gaganyaan
2. ISRO — Human Spaceflight Programme