List of Indian astronauts

Crew of first manned spaceflight mission in Gaganyaan program.

The following is a list of Indian astronauts, also known formally as Gaganyatri[1][2] (from the Sanskrit word gagana meaning "sky" or, "celestial" and yatri meaning "traveller") and informally as Vyomanauts (from the Sanskrit word vyoman meaning "sky" or "space") for indigenous missions by ISRO.

ISRO astronauts

1st Gaganyatri Group

Name Photograph Born Age at the time of the first space mission Time in Space Missions Notes
Shubhanshu Shukla 10 October 1985 39 years 8 months 15 days 20 days, 2 hours and 59 minutes
Prasanth Nair 26 August 1976 None TBA Backup of Shukla on Axiom Mission 4.[10]
Ajit Krishnan 19 April 1982 None TBA [10]
Angad Pratap 17 July 1982 None TBA [10][11]

Former Indian Astronauts/Cosmonauts

Flown

Name Photograph Born Age at the time of the first space mission Time in Space Missions Notes
Rakesh Sharma 13 January 1949 35 years 2 months 21 days 7 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes Soviet Union Soyuz T-11/10
(3 April 1984)

Backup

Name Photograph Born Time in Space Missions Notes
Ravish Malhotra 25 December 1943 N/A Soviet Union Soyuz T-11/10
(3 April 1984)
Backup astronaut.[14]

Space tourists

Suborbital

# Name Photograph Born Time in Space Mission(s) (dates) Notes
1 Gopichand Thotakura 1993 9 minutes, 53 seconds United States Blue Origin NS-25 (May 19, 2024)[15] First Indian to take a suborbital flight to space.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Gaganyatri Shubhanshu Shukla called Dr V Narayanan, Chairman, ISRO and acknowledged the efforts of the ISRO team in ensuring his safe travel to the ISS". www.isro.gov.in. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  2. ^ "'Thank you, ISRO': Gaganyatri Shubhanshu Shukla hails India's space agency for safe journey to ISS". The Economic Times. 2025-07-07. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  3. ^ "Falcon 9 Block 5 | Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4)". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
  4. ^ "India's Gaganyaan Mission in final phase, maiden crew launch in early 2027". India Today. 2025-05-06. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  5. ^ "Shubhanshu Shukla: The Isro pilot taking India back to space after 41 years". www.bbc.com. 2025-06-03. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  6. ^ "Shubhanshu Shukla breaks mentor Rakesh Sharma's 41-year-old space record". India Today. 2025-07-03. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
  7. ^ Singh, Nandini. "Meet Shubhanshu Shukla: India's first astronaut on a private space mission". www.business-standard.com. Archived from the original on 2025-02-06. Retrieved 2025-06-26.
  8. ^ ""Orbiting The Earth. Jai Hind, Jai Bharat": Shubhanshu Shukla's Space Message". www.ndtv.com. Retrieved 2025-06-26.
  9. ^ "Who is Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to travel to the International Space Station?". The Times of India. 2025-06-09. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  10. ^ a b c "Meet 4 astronauts selected for Gaganyaan mission". The Times of India. 2024-02-27. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
  11. ^ Pandey, Geeta (27 February 2024). "Gaganyaan: India names astronauts for maiden space flight". bbc.com. BBC News. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Cosmonaut Biography: Rakesh Sharma". Spacefacts.de. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  13. ^ "Rakesh Sharma". Mapsofindia.com. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  14. ^ Abraham, Rohan (23 July 2019). "'Rakesh Sharma or Ravish Malhotra? Only one of us would go up into space'". The Economic Times. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Meet Gopichand Thotakura: Vijayawada-born pilot to become 2nd Indian to fly to space – A look at his inspiring journey". ET NOW. 2024-04-13. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  16. ^ John, Nirmal (2024-04-12). "Meet Gopichand Thotakura, the 2nd Indian citizen in space after Rakesh Sharma". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-10-29.