PM Narendra Modi unveiled on Tuesday the names of the four astronauts who will take part in India's first human space mission program, Gaganyaan, which is set to fly in 2024-25.

• Highlights: 
  PM Modi revealed 4 Indian Air Force pilots for Gaganyaan; trained in Russia.
• Preparation for Gaganyaan ongoing; safety and tech development emphasized by ISRO.
• Mission intends 3-day orbit for 3 crew; tech development and precursor missions vital.

Group Captain Prashanth Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla are the four selected Indian Air Force pilots. The four astronauts received training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia.

While assessing the progress of the Gaganyaan mission in Kerala, PM Modi awarded 'astronaut wings' on the astronaut-designates at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. The Gaganyaan mission is India's first human spaceflight program, and significant preparations are now ongoing at several ISRO locations.

"India's achievement in the space sector is growing the seeds of scientific temperament in the country's young generation," Prime Minister Modi stated during his speech at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

"India will soon rank among the top three economies in the world, while the country's Gaganyaan will also elevate our space sector to a high height," he went on to say. 

 ISRO's Gaganyaan project aims to show off human spaceflight skills by sending a three-person crew into a 400-kilometer orbit for a three-day mission and landing safely via a landing in Indian sea waters.

Prerequisites for the Gaganyaan mission include the development of many critical technologies, such as a human-rated launch vehicle for safely transporting crew to space, a life support system to provide an earth-like environment for crew in space, crew emergency escape provision, and evolving crew management aspects for crew training, recovery, and rehabilitation.

Prior to the actual Human Space Flight mission, multiple precursor flights will be planned to show the Technology Preparedness Levels. These demonstration missions include Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT), Pad Abort Test (PAT), and Test Vehicle (TV) flights. The safety and dependability of all systems will be shown in unmanned missions prior to manned operations.

ISRO's LVM3 rocket, a well-proven and dependable heavy lift launcher, has been selected as the launch vehicle for the Gaganyaan mission.

Human safety is vital in the Gaganyaan mission. To accomplish this, a variety of new technologies, including engineering and human-centric systems, are being created and implemented.