Indian Astronaut Candidates Start Training in Russia
MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — This Monday Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) has started the planned training program of Indian candidates for a spaceflight under the contract between Glavkosmos, JSC (part of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos) and the Human Spaceflight Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
After thorough selection, the four Indian Air Force fighter pilots became the ISRO candidates for the spaceflight.
The 12-month training program includes comprehensive and biomedical training of the Indian candidates, which will be combined with regular physical practices. In addition, they will study in detail the systems of the Soyuz manned spaceship, as well as they will be trained in short-term weightlessness mode aboard the special Il-76MDK aircraft.
The Indian pilots will also be trained to act correctly in case of abnormal landing of the manned spaceship descent module in various climate and geographic zones. The most part of the training will take place at the GCTC facilities.
The contract for training of the Indian candidates for a spaceflight between Gavkosmos and the Human Spaceflight Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation was signed on June 27, 2019. The document implies the support of Glavkosmos in selection of candidates, their medical examination, and various aspects of space training.
15 responses to “Indian Astronaut Candidates Start Training in Russia”
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This is why private space needs space station in leo. Lots of nations want to train. It should be easy to get 10-20 more positions up in space.
What does private space have to do with this? This is a matter of national pride for India and the only vehicle they will be flying is one of their own. Their Gaganyaan capsule looks more like a Soyuz or Shenzou than anything American so it makes sense that they would train their astronauts in Russia with which they have a history of buying military hardware. Pity, actually, since if they had worked more closely with NASA or SpaceX or even Boeing, their capsule might have been state of the art whenever they are able to launch it. As for a private station to go to, there’s lots of private money out there so maybe somebody will build one.
…What does private space have to do with this?…
I suspect that there is tremendous pent up demand all over the world for human access to space. Private space companies will lower the cost and increase the access.
Again, what does private space in general and private space stations in particular have to do with Indian astronauts training in Russia for flights on their Indian made and designed vehicle? That is the subject of this article.
Now, whether a private space station will stimulate more nations to engage in manned space flight, I’m not sure. Everybody is just guessing so your guess is as good as mine. I think that the real stimulus will come when there is something to do up there that benefits people on the ground. Some people think that an orbiting private lab will draw interest from universities and countries that haven’t already taken a step off the ground. Again, we’ll see but I think that Boards of Regents will hesitate to spend millions to orbit a few researchers and countries that haven’t been able to secure a ride for one of their citizens will also choose practicality over public relations.
You are absolutely right about that. But India is a very poor country with a bunch of very smart people. I suspect that they may find that they can’t afford a government run human spaceflight program…just like us. Enter India’s own private space flight startups…if the government will allow them.
I think that they will have to determine their priorities. The current administration is run by Hindu nationalists who want flashy projects to bolster their sense of prestige. Right now I see absolutely zero chance that they will change their priorities to enhance the lives of the poorest of their citizens but they have a bustling private sector and I can’t see them standing in the way of a private startup that wants to spend its own money. That said, there is certainly room for them in the spacefaring community but I think the ISRO’s mindset is more in line with either going it alone or in partnership with Russia. China is a regional rival so they won’t partner with them. Japan is a possibility as a customer for private space. I’m surprised that there seems to be no appetite for manned spaceflight there. Europe also remains a potential customer although their aspirations are probably more than private space can accommodate at this point. They want to go to the Moon and Mars so I suspect that the ESA will stick with NASA for awhile.
more importantly, by having private space stations with plenty of open seats, it will mean lots more demand for launches, lowering costs even more.
If we had private space going, then Indians would likely have wanted to train by being at space stations. And it would not surprise me if they would then lease their own unit from BA and dock at it for themselves.
I like it. But I wonder if ITAR would squash that plan.
Not for leasing and to India.
India has had a decades long alliance with Russia. I wonder if that would make a difference?
In fact, there is little doubt that this is exactly why India is there. BUT, being able to put ppl in space stations for months is something that Russia can not do.
BUT, given the choice of Russia vs. regular America, India will take Russia.
Interesting that you notice that. Far too many American MBAs run around sending work to India, not realizing that many of the coders over there, have worked closely with Russian counterparts and do NOT see America as a trusted ally. It is one thing to hire Indians here in America for coding, but, it is another to send the work to India.
You’re putting the cart before the horse. They first have to learn to be astronauts and operate their own spacecraft before even thinking about going to anybody’s space station. Maybe at some point they will want to operate all or some portion of a space station but right now they need to learn the basics of flying in space and the only places to do that are in Russia or Houston.
I don’t think so. First to go to ISS, you undergo astronauts training. Going to space station with seasoned ppl is to teach these ppl how to keep a cool head and survive.
So now you are saying that they need to be trained first before going to a space station? Fine, that’s reasonable. After they are trained (and that includes supplemental training for the ISS in the U.S. and Russia) they can visit. Even space tourists get about 6 months of training before visiting ISS and they’re just along for the ride. Even if you had your private space station, they would still need training on the ground.