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Gaganyaan Mission
Gaganyaan astronaut and IAF pilot Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair on Saturday said AI sovereignty is crucial for ensuring national cybersecurity, as the growing use of artificial intelligence is making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between real and fake content. Speaking at the Kerala Cyber Suraksha Summit 2026, organised by Kerala Startup Mission and F9 Infotech, Nair said cybersecurity would have limited value unless the country developed ownership and control over AI technologies. "It is very important that we have AI sovereignty, and any amount of cybersecurity will be of no avail unless we own AI," he said. Nair said future wars and industries would involve a "whole-of-nation approach", making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between physical and digital boundaries. "In the whole-of-nation approach, it's very difficult to say where the physical boundaries end and where the digital boundaries start. And it's going to affect all of us," he said. He stressed the ne
ISRO chief V Narayanan on Friday said that "vigorous, systematic work," is on for the launch of the first uncrewed Gaganyaan mission during this calendar year. The launch of the earth observation satellite (GSLV-F17/EOS-05) is the first success for ISRO during this financial year, Narayanan said adding, "reward for hard work is more work." Accordingly, the ISRO team, along with industries and other organisations, is working on the first uncrewed Gaganyaan mission. In his address following the successful launch of EOS-05, he said that activities were underway very "vigorously and systematically," for the uncrewed mission launch during this calendar year. Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership, Narayanan said that six more launches, including the navigation satellite NVS-03, are targeted for this financial year. Later, addressing a press conference, the ISRO chief said the earth observation satellite's operational lifetime is nine years and dismissed speculations t
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday said it had successfully carried out three major tests of the Gaganyaan crew module systems. The first test pertained to ensuring an upright position for the crew module after splashdown in the sea, considered one of the most important crew safety requirements. To do this, a stored cold-gas-based uprighting system was developed and tested. "A system-level qualification test setup consisting of all the elements of CMUS (crew module uprighting system) was realised and successfully conducted inflation tests for the primary inflation module wherein stored gas in the high-pressure gas bottle was made to inflate the floatation by operating the control valves," the ISRO said. The second test involved examining the separation of the umbilical mechanism that serves as a link between the crew module, where astronauts live, and the service module, which provides power and propulsion. The mechanism consists of two parts, each located at
Space agency ISRO has successfully conducted the second integrated air drop test (IADT-02) for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission at the space station in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota. The system is essential to ensure safe recovery of the crew module -- the capsule in which astronauts sit during a human flight -- during re-entry and landing. Union Minister Jitendra Singh congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for successfully conducting the test. "Congratulations #ISRO for the successful accomplishment of Second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) for #Gaganyaan, India's first Human Space flight scheduled next year. The second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) was successfully conducted at Satish Dhawan Space Station Sriharikota," Singh said in a post on X. The IADT-02 follows the successful completion of the first IADT, which took place on August 24, 2025 at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Air drop tests recreate the last leg of a spacecraft's retu
India must continue to pursue its ambitious human spaceflight programme with sustained enthusiasm despite inherent complexities and unknowns, Group Captain and Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla said on Wednesday. The Ashoka Chakra awardee asserted that the success of Mission Gaganyaan will place the country among a select group of spacefaring nations. Addressing reporters here, he said, "I think, as a nation, what we are trying to do with Mission Gaganyaan has only been done by three other countries in the world." India aims to launch Gaganyaan in 2027, according to ISRO. Group Captain Shukla is among the four astronauts selected for the mission. "These are very complex and challenging missions. We are trying to do something so audacious, whatever time it takes, we need to continue to work towards it with the same enthusiasm that I had on day one, and that will be there on the final day when we finally launch humans into space," he added. The Indian astronaut acknowledged that de
ISRO is working towards the first uncrewed mission of its ambitious Gaganyaan Mission scheduled for 2027, Chairman V Narayanan has said. The Gaganyaan mission is India's first human spaceflight programme currently under development. It aims to send a three-member crew on a three-day mission to space and bring them back safely to Earth. "Gaganyaan programme is planned in 2027. Before that, three uncrewed missions are planned. We are working towards the first uncrewed mission," he told reporters late Friday. To a query, he said, currently scientists were engaged in conducting a lot of tests for the mission to achieve success. "There are lots of tests happening. You know safety of the Gaganyatri is very, very important. So, we have to be very careful. We have to qualify every system. In the rocket system, we have to score one hundred out of one hundred," he said. "Our aim is that (success of Gaganyaan). We have to do a perfect job. We are working towards that," he said. On the PSLV-
A series of qualification tests for drogue parachutes, which have been carried out to develop a deceleration system for ISRO's Gaganyaan crew module, were successful, the space agency said on Saturday. These tests were completed at the Rail Track Rocket Sled (RTRS) facility of the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) in Chandigarh, on December 18 and 19, the ISRO said. The deceleration system of the Gaganyaan crew module comprises a total of 10 parachutes of four types, the agency said in a statement. According to ISRO, the descent sequence begins with the separation of two apex cover separation parachutes, which remove the protective cover from the parachute compartment. This is followed by the deployment of two drogue parachutes that stabilise and decelerate the module. "Upon release of the drogues, three pilot parachutes are deployed to extract three main parachutes, which further slow down the crew module to ensure a safe touchdown," ISRO said. The space agency said
"The entire landscape is changing, and I think the future is extremely bright," said astronaut and Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla here on Monday, while stressing that it was only perseverance that has defined his success. Shukla reached his hometown this morning for the first time since his historic AXIOM 4 space mission. Although he arrived in India from the US on August 17, he is visiting the Uttar Pradesh capital now after participating in multiple outreach events, including a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 18 in Delhi. Speaking to children at his alma mater, City Montessori School (CMS), the first Indian to visit the International Space Station said, "In my experience that I have had in the last five years of training and last one year of flying to the International Space Station and coming back -- looking at how this entire landscape is changing, I think the future is extremely bright." "We are at the right time, right opportunities exist
Undergoing survival tests in simulated environment, learning photography to document space experiences and a team kayaking off the Mexican coast to foster camaraderie -- these were some of the activities that the crew of Axiom-4 had engaged in before setting off on the mission, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla said. During an event hosted by the Indian Air Force on Sunday, Group Captain Shukla, who goes by the callsign 'Shux', shared his experiences and challenges he faced while being part of the Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and the training he underwent prior to it. After several postponements, the Dragon spacecraft carrying him and other three astronauts was launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in the US on June 25. "It was so powerful, it literally shakes every bone in your body. You are going from 0 km/hr to 28,500 km/hr in 8.5 minutes, and that speaks about the magnitude of it," Shukla recalled the intensity of the lift-off experience. As the spacecraf