ISRO announced the final crew selection for the first crewed mission to the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, India’s planned orbital outpost. The four astronauts — Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, and Wing Commander Kavya Manohar — will spend 30 days in orbit.
Wing Commander Manohar, an aerospace engineer and test pilot, becomes the first Indian woman selected for a space mission.
Mission Profile
The crew will be launched aboard Gaganyaan-3 in late 2027 and will dock with the first module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, which will be launched unmanned six months prior. Mission objectives include materials science experiments, crop biology studies, and Earth observation for disaster management.