India will launch its first manned space mission by 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today, which could make it the fourth nation to do so after the United States, Russia and China. An Indian astronaut, be it a man or a woman, will go on a space odyssey by 2022 on board 'Gaganyaan', Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day address from the Red Fort in Delhi.
PM Modi said when India celebrates 75th year of Independence in 2022, "and if possible even before, an Indian son or daughter" will be part of a manned space mission on board 'Gaganyaan' "carrying the national flag".
It should be noted Indian Airforce pilot Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to have travelled in space. He flew aboard the Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11 in 1984. Sharma was awarded the Ashoka Chakra for his achievement.
Kalpana Chawla became first woman of Indian origin to fly into space. She was one of the seven crew members who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003.
In both instances, astronauts of Indian origin went into space aboard foreign spacecrafts.
Chandrayaan-1 was India's first lunar probe. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008 and operated until August 2009.
Mangalyaan is another Indian space project.
The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, is a space probe orbiting Mars since September 24, 2014.
