• Why in News?

  • The Indian Air Force (IAF) has signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for crew selection and training for the prestigious Gaganyaan, the
  country’s maiden manned space mission

• • AVM R.G.K. Kapoor, ACAS Ops (Space), IAF handed over the MoU to Shri R Hutton, Project Director of Gaganyaan Programme.

Highlights:

• • Under the programme, a three-member crew will spend a minimum of seven days in space.
• • A human-rated GSLV Mk-lll will be used to carry the orbital module, which will have necessary provisions for sustaining a three-member crew for the duration of the mission.
• • The Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) will lead the selection and training of astronauts on behalf of IAF.
• • The necessary infrastructure for crew training, a realization of flight systems and ground infrastructure will be established to support the program.
• • ISRO will collaborate extensively with national agencies, laboratories, academia and industry to accomplish the objectives of the prestigious mission.

Gaganyaan Mission:

• • Gaganyaan (“Sky Craft”) is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the basis of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.
• • Gaganyaan was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.
• • The mission is worth Rs. 10,000 crore.
• • The Programme is aimed to be launched by December 2021.
• • It was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2018.
• • In its maiden crewed mission, ISRO’s largely autonomous 3.7-tonne capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 km (250 miles) altitude for up to seven days with a three-person crew on board.