Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has informed that Gaganyaan project is approved by Government of India and is operating under a newly formed Centre, Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC). Gaganyaan Project team is identified and appropriate management system is in place. The design activities are progressing for the targeted manned flight in December 2021.
In order to meet the stringent schedule, help is being sought from Russia and France for human centric systems, where ISRO would gain experience.
The specific areas for collaboration have been identified wherein Russia and France could help in meeting the Gaganyaan schedule. Discussions are in advanced stage with Russia in the areas of environmental control and life support system and part of the crew selection and training. With France, discussions are proceeding with respect to training of Flight surgeons and long term activities on bioastronautics, combined development and experiments in space medicine area.