ISRO aims to send woman fighter test pilots into space on Gaganyaan mission: S Somanath

Somanath revealed that ISRO plans to send a female humanoid, a robot with a human-like appearance, in its unmanned Gaganyaan spacecraft next year. The Gaganyaan mission aims to send humans into space on a Low Earth Orbit of 400 km for three days and safely return them to Earth.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is actively seeking female candidates for its much-anticipated human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan. According to ISRO Chief S. Somanath, the space agency prefers women fighter test pilots or female scientists for the mission and believes it is possible to send women into space in the future.

Somanath revealed that ISRO plans to send a female humanoid, a robot with a human-like appearance, in its unmanned Gaganyaan spacecraft next year. The Gaganyaan mission aims to send humans into space on a Low Earth Orbit of 400 km for three days and safely return them to Earth.

Somanath emphasized the agency's commitment to including women in space missions, stating, "No doubt about it...but we have to find out such possible (women) candidates in the future." He noted that currently, the initial candidates for Gaganyaan are Air Force fighter test pilots, but they are working on expanding the pool to include women.

The ISRO Chairman explained that one route for involving women in the mission is through Air Force fighter test pilots, but this requires the recruitment of more women in this category. The second option involves scientists joining the mission as astronauts, with more opportunities for women scientists to participate. As of now, the limited number of women fighter test pilots in the Air Force presents a challenge, but ISRO is determined to overcome these obstacles to promote gender diversity in space exploration.

ISRO recently launched the TV-D1 test vehicle as a significant milestone in preparation for the Gaganyaan mission, aiming to have a fully operational space station by 2035. The agency successfully carried out a simulated abort situation, testing the Crew Escape System to ensure the safe return of the Crew Module to Earth in the Bay of Bengal.