Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan and Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal AP Singh with four Gaganyatris during the felicitation ceremony in New Delhi on August 24, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday (August 24, 2025) said Gaganyaan mission symbolises a “new chapter” in the journey of Atmanirbhar Bharat and called astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and the other three chosen Gaganyatris as “gems.”
At an event hosted by the IAF at Subroto Park in New Delhi, Mr. Singh felicitated the four Gaganyatris.
INTERACTIVE: India’s space journey
The ceremony comes after the successful Axiom 4 mission, of which Shukla was a part.
Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla are the four chosen Gaganyatris.
Their names were revealed for the first time in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram in February 2024.
The Gaganyaan project, formally announced by Modi in 2018, aims to send a three-member crewed flight into the 400 km-orbit for a three-day mission in 2027.
Published – August 24, 2025 11:56 am IST