"Gaganyaan Just Beginning": Astronaut Angad Pratap On India's Space Future
As India embarks on its ambitious Gaganyaan program, the journey of its astronaut designates offers a glimpse into the nation's future in human spaceflight. Among them is Group Captain Angad Pratap, a fighter pilot and test pilot of the highest order, who shared his experiences and insights into the rigorous training and the promise of India's space endeavours.
The journey began in January 2020 when Mr Pratap and three other astronaut designates were selected for the prestigious Gaganyaan program, which is scheduled for launch early in 2027. "It's been a long journey till now. It's been five years. We trained for approximately 14 months at Russia's Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, a place steeped in history and tradition. We were trained as cosmonauts in the Soyuz spacecraft and we had a bit of format training on the Russian segment of the International Space Station as well."
After completing their training in Russia, the astronauts returned to India for another round of training at the astronaut training facility in Bangalore. "We have been trained on the human-rated launch vehicle, the basic theoretical subjects related to astronautics, as well as the Gaganyaan spacecraft," Me Pratap explained. "A portion of which is remaining, which we will restart closer to the mission."
Reflecting on his experience at the Russian training school, Mr Pratap described it as "wonderful to begin with because that is a place with five decades of legacy". He noted the significance of training at a facility where astronauts from around the world have honed their skills. "From 2011 till about 2020, all astronauts of the world had to come to Moscow to train, since Soyuz was the only vehicle flying to space back then," he said.
Standing beside a scale model of the crew module, Mr Pratap expressed confidence in the development of the actual spacecraft at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and the UR Rao Satellite Centre. "There is no denying the fact that not only me but all the other three astronauts as well-and I can say this for the entire space community-ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) has a very big name in the world of space," Mr Pratap added.
He cited ISRO's achievements, including the Mars Orbiter Mission and Chandrayaan-3, as examples of the agency's credibility. "There has to be a great level of trust between a space traveller and his agency. Being a test pilot, I'm aware of the kind of testing protocols and how robust they are before a final product is cleared for spaceflight."
The astronaut designates have visited major ISRO testing facilities, which Mr Pratap said has been a major confidence booster. "It's worked as a very big confidence-building measure and a boost to our trust in the vehicle."
Mr Pratap also expressed satisfaction with the human-rated Launch Vehicle Mark-3, which is nearing completion. "I am more than happy. In aerospace, we don't go for big changes very soon. If a system is already proven and working, you don't change it just for comfort. Changes introduce new failure points."
He emphasised that ISRO has wisely chosen to rely on its most robust and tested systems for the Gaganyaan mission. "And when it comes to the GSLV Mk3, or LVM-3, the whole world has immense trust in it. It has an enviable 100 per cent success record."
Despite the long wait for a flight assignment, Mr Pratap remains grounded and patient. "Spaceflight takes time. We were awarded our space wings just last year. Globally, astronauts wait five to six years after that. Thomas Pesquet waited almost eight years," he noted.
He added, "Anyone who wants to be an astronaut must accept that most of their 15-year astronaut career will be spent on Earth, working for science. It's not just about the flight. It's about patience, training, and character building."
Mr Pratap and his fellow astronaut designates continue to keep their training sharp through regular technical meetings with ISRO and occasional flying stints with the Indian Air Force. "We go back to IAF once in a while and fly. Our engagement with ISRO includes regular interaction with designers and hardware developers. So both our piloting and test piloting skills are being maintained."
Looking ahead, Mr Pratap is optimistic about India's broader space ambitions. "We need to think as Indians first and consider what we are about to achieve in the next two decades in spaceflight."
He praised ISRO's parallel strategy in developing human spacecraft, docking systems, space station modules and lunar return capabilities. "ISRO is building all of this in parallel. The same capability that will bring back lunar samples will one day take humans to the moon and bring them back," he said.
With government support and new funding, India is also developing a next-generation heavy-lift launch vehicle. "It's for building bigger space stations in the future. The human space program is expanding, and things are looking good for us."
When asked if he might one day go to the moon. Mr Pratap smiled and said, "It's too early to say. But what matters is that the nation progresses. Whether it's me or someone else, we should all be proud."
As for Gaganyaan, he remains excited but measured. "Of course, I'm excited. But I'm also controlling my excitement. Let it happen at the right pace. Even if it's delayed by a year or more, what matters is that we have a successful mission."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
36 minutes ago
- Hans India
SpaceX delivers 4 astronauts to ISS just 15 hrs after launch
Washington: SpaceX delivered a fresh crew to the International Space Station on Saturday, making the trip in a quick 15 hours. The four US, Russian and Japanese astronauts pulled up in their SpaceX capsule after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre. They will spend at least six months at the orbiting lab, swapping places with colleagues up there since March. SpaceX will bring those four back as early as Wednesday. Moving in are NASA's Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan's Kimiya Yui and Russia's Oleg Platonov — each of whom had been originally assigned to other missions. 'Hello, space station!' Fincke radioed as soon as the capsule docked high above the South Pacific. Cardman and another astronaut were pulled from a SpaceX flight last year to make room for NASA's two stuck astronauts, Boeing Starliner test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose space station stay went from one week to more than nine months. Fincke and Yui had been training for the next Starliner mission. But with Starliner grounded by thruster and other problems until 2026, the two switched to SpaceX. Platonov was bumped from the Soyuz launch lineup a couple of years ago because of an undisclosed illness. Their arrival temporarily puts the space station population at 11. The astronauts greeting them had cold drinks and hot food waiting for them. While their taxi flight was speedy by US standards, the Russians hold the record for the fastest trip to the space station — a lightning-fast three hours.
NDTV
7 hours ago
- NDTV
SpaceX Delivers 4 Astronauts To International Space Station Just 15 Hours After Launch
Cape Canaveral: SpaceX delivered a fresh crew to the International Space Station on Saturday, making the trip in a quick 15 hours. The four US, Russian and Japanese astronauts pulled up in their SpaceX capsule after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. They will spend at least six months at the orbiting lab, swapping places with colleagues up there since March. SpaceX will bring those four back as early as Wednesday. Moving in are NASA's Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan's Kimiya Yui and Russia's Oleg Platonov - each of whom had been originally assigned to other missions. "Hello, space station!" Fincke radioed as soon as the capsule docked high above the South Pacific. Cardman and another astronaut were pulled from a SpaceX flight last year to make room for NASA's two stuck astronauts, Boeing Starliner test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose space station stay went from one week to more than nine months. Fincke and Yui had been training for the next Starliner mission. But with Starliner grounded by thruster and other problems until 2026, the two switched to SpaceX. Platonov was bumped from the Soyuz launch lineup a couple of years ago because of an undisclosed illness. Their arrival temporarily puts the space station population at 11. "It was such an unbelievably beautiful sight to see the space station come into our view for the first time," Cardman said once on board. While their taxi flight was speedy by US standards, the Russians hold the record for the fastest trip to the space station - a lightning-fast three hours.
The Hindu
7 hours ago
- The Hindu
The first undersea voyage to the North Pole
Search for power The concept of underwater transport is deeply embedded in human history. It wasn't until the 17th Century, however, that the first practical submarine was built. And it was only during World War I that submarines became a huge factor in naval warfare. Even in the decades after World War I, the submarines could last underwater for only about 12-48 hours. This practical limitation was due to their power source, something that the U.S. Navy were trying to overcome for years by pursuing alternate sources of energy for their vessels. The news of the atom having been split in 1939 didn't immediately lead to the beginning of the Manhattan Project. The potential of nuclear energy for power generation and explosives, however, didn't go unnoticed and the U.S. Navy began experimenting nuclear-powered propulsion. This was under the aegis of Ross Gunn, a physicist heading the Mechanics and Electricity Division at the Naval Research Lab (NRL). Submarines of the time relied on electric batteries that were charged by diesel-powered generators, thereby requiring resurfacing, fuel, and oxygen. Even if the submarines used fuel cells for propulsion, oxygen remained a limiting factor. Gunn dreamt of a new power source with a uranium core that would heat water to run a steam power plant onboard. Once Gunn's team secured funding, work began to explore ways to separate uranium isotopes. Their work got a fillip once Philip Abelson, a physicist at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, got on board. Abelson pioneered a method of liquid thermal diffusion to separate the isotopes and in his own words 'the facility at the Naval Research Laboratory was the world's most successful separator of uranium isotopes' for a time. Seeing the success that Abelson's method was able to produce, the Manhattan Project – operating in secrecy – were quick to replicate it, building a liquid thermal diffusion plant with 2,142 columns, each 15 m tall, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory – the S-50. The S-50 turned out to be the first feeder plant in a trio of plants that enriched uranium in series for the first atomic bomb that was dropped on August 6, 1945 on Hiroshima, Japan. Gunn's contribution was recognised and he urged the Navy in 1946 to send people to learn about nuclear energy from scientists who were involved with the Manhattan Project. With Abelson returning to Carnegie Institution the same year and Gunn switching NRL for the U.S. Weather Bureau, the onus of building the nuclear-powered submarine fell on Russian-born engineer Captain Hyman G. Rickover. Building the Nautilus Rickover was one of the five people who went to learn about nuclear energy from Manhattan Project scientists following Gunn's recommendation. Quick to see the benefits of nuclear power in their realm, Rickover led the effort to design a power plant for a submarine that would be both safe and compact. With Rickover at the helm, a group of engineers began experimenting on reactor designs. They came up with a pressurised water reactor, which continues to be a model for a common type of nuclear reactor even today. According to this design, water in a coolant loop is kept under high pressure. Pumped near a core of uranium that is slightly enriched, the water heats up but is prevented from boiling by the high pressure. Once the heated water moves into a steam generator, it vaporises water in a secondary loop. The steam that results from this process turns a turbine generator and electricity is produced. Rickover contracted with Westinghouse, a manufacturing company, to build the reactor in the early 1950s. In order to build SSN-571 – the submarine that this reactor would power – he brought in the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics. The resulting submarine was tested time and time again, both before and after the reactor was installed by the Navy. Rickover, meanwhile, took it upon himself to personally interview and approve every single Navy officer involved in the programme, not just in the beginning, but for decades thereafter. His methods might have been very different, and even earned him the reputation of being a fanatic among his detractors, but Rickover did succeed in building the world's first nuclear submarine. What's more, he managed it years ahead of schedule as the USS Nautilus was launched on January 21, 1954. With more than 1,200 people gathered, the submarine was commissioned on September 30, officially entering the Navy service. On the morning of January 17, 1955, the Nautilus ran on nuclear power for the very first time. Travelling under the North Pole Stretching nearly 320 feet and displacing over 3,000 tons, the Nautilus was much larger than the diesel-electric submarines that came before it. In addition to being able to travel underwater at speeds in excess of 20 knots, the submarine was also capable of being submerged for almost unlimited time periods. This was a direct result of the method of propulsion as the atomic engine had no need for air and only used up a small amount of nuclear fuel. In 25 years of operation, Nautilus smashed speed and distance records, remained capable of avoiding detection by even the best such systems, and remained continuously underwater for more than two weeks in one shot. Among its many firsts and successes, its journey under the North Pole in 1958 is rather special. Nautilus became the first craft to cross under the North Pole thanks to Operation Sunshine. For this historic voyage, 116 men were on board – a party that included Commander William R. Anderson, 111 officers and crew members, and four scientists, who were civilians. Having departed from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on July 23, 1958, it passed north through Bering Strait and surfaced only at Point Barrow, Alaska. On August 1, Nautilus went under the Arctic ice cap as it left the north coast of Alaska. With the submarine diving to a depth of nearly 500 feet, the ice cap above it varied from anywhere between 10 to 50 feet. Around 11:15 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time in the U.S.) on August 3, Commander Anderson made the following announcement: 'For the world, our country, and the Navy — the North Pole.' The historic moment passed as the Nautilus carried on without stopping under the geographic North Pole. It surfaced next only on August 5, in the Greenland Sea between Spitsbergen and Greenland. It ended its historic journey at Iceland two days later. In a career spanning a quarter of a century, the Nautilus travelled about half a million miles. It was decommissioned on March 3, 1980 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982. Having first gone on exhibit in 1986, it is now a permanent exhibit open to the public at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut, U.S.
