Space: Flying PM Modi on Gaganyaan will be a “very proud moment”, says ISRO chief

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi fly into space on Gaganyaan?

This question did the rounds on Tuesday when Dr. S. Somanath, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), was quoted as saying that it would be a “very proud moment” if the country’s space agency could fly PM Modi into space.

“I will wait for the Gaganyaan to be ready, to be proven, to be qualified enough to do that,” the media quoted him as saying in an interview with NDTV.

Dr. Somanath noted that ISRO was at a “critical juncture” with Gaganyaan this year and had three important missions scheduled.

A few months ago, four Indian Air Force (IAF) test pilots—Prashanth Nair, Angad Prathap, Ajit Krishnan, and Shubhanshu Shukla—were selected for the Gaganyaan mission. The human space flight mission will launch a crew of up to three members into a Low Earth Orbit. These astronauts are being trained for India’s first human spaceflight mission.

Dr. Somanath said he was “limited by the availability of the trained astronauts whom I can put in front of the possible candidates for this mission.”

“Any other candidate, including VIPs, for such missions cannot be considered at this moment because it is a highly skilled and trained operation that requires many years of preparation, and I believe that will be the guiding spirit in this case.”

Asked whether he would be happy to accommodate Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he decided to go, Dr Somanath said, “Of course, I’ll be very happy to do that, but then that’s not the point here. He has much more responsible jobs to do I believe. But this is one of the capabilities that we would like to develop, that’s human spaceflight capability, which we are in the process of gaining.”

Does he prefer that the Indian PM fly on when the Gaganyaan is ready to take him on an Indian vehicle to space?

The ISRO chief replied, “You said it right. See whenever such a thing has to happen, the Head of the State has to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) or a space station of that nation. It must be on our vehicle and from our land. I think I should say that only. So, I would wait for the Gaganyaan to be ready, to be proven, to be qualified enough to do that.”

He added, “All of us will be very proud. Not only me, the entire nation will be proud if we have that ability to confidently send such a man to space.”

About a possible launch date, Dr. Somanath said that the first test flight of the Gaganyaan is scheduled for the end of next year “if all goes well.”

“But everything depends on the progress we are going to make,” he added.