India & France Signed MoU to form working group for India's Gaganyaan Mission

India & France Signed MoU to form a working group for India's First Manned Space Mission 'Gaganyaan Mission': Details, Aim, Highlights

India and France on 6th September 2018 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to constitute a working group for Gaganyaan Mission, India’s first manned space mission. It was announced at the 6th Bengaluru Space Expo by French space agency CNES President, Jean-Yves Le Gall.

The French space agency CNES and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be combining their expertise in fields of space medicine, astronaut health monitoring, life support, radiation protection, space debris protection, and personal hygiene systems.

The ambit of the cooperation includes ISRO’s access to space hospital facilities in France.

India & France have decided that infrastructure such as CADMOS centre for development of microgravity applications and space operations or the MEDES space clinic will be used for training of future Indian astronauts.

Indian-French space cooperation includes climate monitoring, with a fleet of joint satellites devoted to research and operational applications.

India & France have also planned to work on Mars, Venus, and Asteroids.

Gaganyaan Mission (India's First Manned Spaceflight Programme)

The Gaganyaan mission was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 72nd Independence Day speech. It is India’s first manned space mission that will be launched by ISRO by 2022.

The Gaganyaan mission will send a three-member crew to space for a period of five to seven days. The crew will do a microgravity experiment during the mission.