Bengaluru, 11 Feb

India must continue to pursue its ambitious Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission with sustained enthusiasm despite inherent complexities and unknowns, Group Captain and Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla said on Wednesday.

The Ashoka Chakra awardee noted that only three countries have independently carried out human spaceflight programmes. “As a nation, what we are trying to do with Mission Gaganyaan has only been done by three other countries in the world,” he said, adding that its success would place India among an elite group of spacefaring nations.

Gaganyaan aims to send a three-member crew on a three-day mission to space and bring them back safely. According to ISRO, India aims to launch Gaganyaan in 2027. Shukla, one of four astronauts selected, acknowledged that delays and hurdles are natural in such cutting-edge ventures. “These are very complex and challenging missions… whatever time it takes, we need to continue to work towards it with the same enthusiasm,” he said.

On India–US cooperation in the space sector, Shukla cited his own Axiom mission as an example of how international collaboration can advance space exploration.

Fellow astronaut Group Captain Prasanth Nair urged patience, calling the mission an “inflexion point” when India sends “an Indian astronaut on an Indian rocket… and brings him back safely.” He said India would become the fourth nation to achieve the feat.

Nair also noted that the moment is important because “when India does something, it does it differently”.