On 3 April 1984,Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to travel to space. He traveled on boardSoyuz T-11 to the space stationSalyut 7 as part of the SovietInterkosmos programme.^[1] In the late 2000s,Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that it is working on the technologies required for sending humans to space as a part of theIndian Human Spaceflight Programme.^[2][3]

In 2018, theGovernment of India formally announced the launch of theGaganyaan programme, which aimed to put a man in space by 2022.^[4] However, the plans were delayed partly due to the impact ofCOVID-19.^[5] As per the revised timelines, the first crewed flight is planned as a part ofGaganyaan-4, scheduled to launch in 2027.^[6][7]) On 27 February 2024, four men (Gaganyatri) –Ajit Krishnan,Angad Pratap,Prasanth Nair, andShubhanshu Shukla, from theIndian Air Force were announced as candidates for the human spaceflight programme.^[8] They trained at Russia'sYuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, where Sharma had trained in 1984.^[9] Nair and Shukla trained atNASA facilities in preparation for their participation in theAxiom Mission 4 to theInternational Space Station.^[10] Shukla flew to space on 25 June 2025 as a part of the mission,^[11][12] while Nair was his backup.^[13]

On 19 May 2024,Gopichand Thotakura became the first Indian to take asuborbital flight to space, as a part of theBlue Origin NS-25 mission.^[14]

Apart from the Indians who had traveled to space, the list also includes those who have trained for space travel but have not traveled to space.^[a]

Name	Image	Birth	Time in Space	Missions	Notes
Rakesh Sharma		13 January 1949	7 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes	Soyuz T-11 (3 April 1984)[15]	First Indian in space.[16]
Ravish Malhotra		25 December 1943	—N/a	—N/a	Backup for Sharma in Soyuz T-11.[17]
Gopichand Thotakura		1993	9 minutes, 53 seconds	Blue Origin NS-25 (19 May 2024)[18]	Second Indian in space.[18] First Indian to take asuborbital flight to space.[14]
Shubhanshu Shukla		10 October 1985	20 days, 2 hours and 59 minutes	Axiom Mission 4 (25 June 2025)[19]	Second Indian inouter space.[20][21] Longest-stay by an Indian in space.[22] First Indian inISS.[23][24]
Prasanth Nair		26 August 1976	—N/a	—N/a	Backup for Shukla on Axiom Mission 4.[25]
Ajit Krishnan		19 April 1982	—N/a	—N/a	Part ofGaganyaan.[26]
Angad Pratap		17 July 1982	—N/a	—N/a	Part of Gaganyaan.[26]

• History of spaceflight
• Human spaceflight
• List of Asian astronauts
• List of astronauts by selection

• Indian astronauts
• Lists of astronauts by nationality
• Lists of Indian people by occupation
• Space programme of India

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