India's first manned mission - Gaganyaan

The prime minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi said that when india celebrates  75th year independance  in 2022,and if possible even before, an Indian son or daughter will be part of a manned space mission on board 'Gaganyaan' carrying the national flag.

The country's space agency plans to send a crew of three on a mission within 40 months.

The India will launch its first manned mission of space in 2022 , Prime Minister said that the India could the fourth  nation to do this mission after united states , Russia and China . An Indian astronaut, be it a man or a woman, will go on a space odyssey by 2022 on board 'Gaganyaan', Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day address from the Red Fort in Delhi.

It should be noted Indian Airforce pilot Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to have travelled in space. He flew aboard the Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11 in 1984. Sharma was awarded the Ashoka Chakra for his achievement.

Kalpana Chawla became first woman of Indian origin to fly into space. She was one of the seven crew members who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003.

In both instances, astronauts of Indian origin went into space aboard foreign spacecrafts.

Mangalyaan is another Indian space project. The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, is a space probe orbiting Mars since September 24, 2014.