India’s Gaganyaan space mission to launch in 2027, aims to put a human on the Moon by 2040
August 19, 2025
When Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla sent a message from orbit in June 2025, moments after docking at the International Space Station, his words struck a national chord: “We’re back in space after 41 years and what an amazing ride it’s been.”
Shukla’s journey on Axiom Space’s multinational Ax-4 mission was only the second time an Indian had travelled to space, following Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 Soviet-backed flight.
Yet this mission was different. Far from being symbolic, it was a carefully planned stepping stone towards India’s first indigenous human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, now targeted for 2027.
The experience Shukla gained in orbit will directly support Gaganyaan, the cornerstone of India’s wider human spaceflight roadmap, which stretches from the launch of a national space station by 2035 to an ambitious lunar landing by 2040.
From Gaganyaan test flights to Moon landings
Addressing Parliament on 18 August 2025, Federal Minister for Space Dr Jitendra Singh outlined India’s evolving space ambitions.
The Gaganyaan programme is advancing through a series of critical tests, with the first crewed launch now scheduled for early 2027.
Looking further ahead, India plans to establish the Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035. Rather than being deployed in one piece, the station will be assembled in orbit from five separate modules.
A demonstration in January 2025 proved India’s ability to align and dock satellites at orbital speeds, a capability mastered by only a handful of nations.
By 2040, India aims to place an astronaut on the Moon — a move that positions it alongside the United States and China, both preparing for future lunar missions.
Gaganyaan: India’s first human spaceflight mission
At the heart of this long-term strategy is Gaganyaan, a mission that represents far more than scientific achievement. It is a declaration of self-reliance: Indian astronauts flying aboard an Indian spacecraft launched by an Indian rocket.
The first crew will consist of four Indian Air Force officers, initially trained in Russia and now undergoing mission-specific preparation in India. At the astronaut training facility, they are being assessed for fitness, psychological readiness, and performance in simulations.
To prepare for the crewed launch, ISRO is conducting a sequence of uncrewed tests. An abort test was completed earlier this year, with another scheduled for late 2025.
These will be followed by uncrewed orbital missions before the full crewed flight in 2027. Final development is underway on the spacecraft’s systems, including its crew capsule, life-support module, and escape mechanism.
How India’s human spaceflight compares globally
India’s roadmap — with a lunar landing planned for 2040 — is ambitious but reflects growing confidence in domestic capability.
The programme has survived pandemic delays, supply chain bottlenecks, and the need for extra safety refinements.
By comparison:
- China launched its first astronauts in 2003 and has since built and occupied the Tiangong space station.
- The United States continues to push forward with NASA’s Artemis programme and commercial crew providers, aiming to return humans to the Moon this decade.
India is pursuing a measured path, emphasising phased testing and frugal engineering. Minister Singh has repeatedly stressed that Gaganyaan’s costs are significantly lower than comparable international missions, thanks to India’s efficient development model.
Gaganyaan and India’s growing space economy
India’s human spaceflight efforts are closely tied to economic growth. The country’s space economy, valued at $8 billion today, is projected to reach $45 billion by 2035.
Since the opening of the sector to private firms in 2020, dozens of startups have partnered with ISRO, contributing to propulsion, robotics, satellite manufacture, and mission design.
The Gaganyaan programme alone has already generated spinoffs in materials science, medicine, and electronics, creating benefits beyond spaceflight. Human space exploration is increasingly seen not just as a scientific pursuit but as a catalyst for innovation, industry, and workforce development.
For Group Captain Shukla and his fellow astronaut-designates, the path to space is already underway. Their training and Shukla’s flight on Ax-4 are laying the groundwork for India’s first independent crewed launch in 2027.
But beyond orbit lies a much bigger challenge: returning to the Moon. With a space station planned by 2035 and a lunar mission on the horizon for 2040, India is entering a critical phase in its space development.
