Russian firm to train Indian astronauts for Gaganyaan manned space mission

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has signed up Russian launch service provider Glavkosmos for selection support, medical examination and space training of Indian astronauts.

Glavkosmos will help ISRO's Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) select candidates for space flight. It will also carry out medical examination of the candidates and train them for their journey to space.

The training will be provided with support of the UA Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Center and Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Human Space Flight Centre is a part of the Isro and was established to develop life support systems, provide crew training and plan for future missions under the Gaganyaan project.

India's human space mission, which is one of the pet projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is estimated to cost around Rs 10,000 crore and Isro is targeting to lunch it by 2022.