Russian Soyuz Spacecraft

SpaceX's first flight with humans aboard is spurring the competitive space industry to new heights, with Boeing also preparing to carry people to orbit

Russian launch service provider Glavkosmos said the planned twelve month training programme of Indian candidates for a spaceflight started on Monday at the Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Moscow. After a thorough selection, the four Indian Air Force fighter pilots became the Indian Space Research Organisation candidates for the spaceflight. For India's first manned mission to space- Gaganyaan, which is planned around 2022, trained pilots will be selected from among them. "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 (ISRO)," Glavkosmos said in a statement on its website. Most part of the training will take place at the GCTC facilities. Glavkosmos said the 12-month training programme includes comprehensive .

The capsule with the three crew members -- NASA's Scott Tingle, Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency