Gaganyaan crew completes training in Russia

 Indian officers, selected to become astronauts to crew the Gaganyaan into orbit, have completed their one-year training course in Russia’s Zvyozdny gorodok city near Moscow.

The Gaganyaan mission is aimed at sending astronauts to space in an orbital spacecraft.

“In the evening we met with Indian Gaganauts who had completed their training at Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. We also discussed with the (Indian) ambassador the future bilateral space projects,” Rogozin said on his Telegram channel, as quoted by Russian news agency Sputnik.

The contract for the training of Indian officers was signed between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russian launch service provider Glavcosmos in June 2019. The four pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) include a Group Captain and three Wing Commanders, according to the IAF sources.

The training began on February 10, 2020, but it was temporarily interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.