StaciWinslow at 10:37, 14 April 2026

2026-04-14T10:37:11Z

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{{for|Indian nationals in space|List of Indian astronauts}}

As of 2025, six people of origin have been in space. The first astronaut of the Indian nationality, in space was [[Rakesh Sharma]] on Soyuz T-11 in 1984.<ref name=spacefacts>{{cite web|url=http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/international/english/sharma_rakesh.htm |title=Cosmonaut Biography: Rakesh Sharma |publisher=Spacefacts.de |access-date=6 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mapsofindia.com/who-is-who/miscellaneous/rakesh-sharma.html |title=Rakesh Sharma |publisher=Mapsofindia.com |access-date=6 July 2012}}</ref> Three astronauts – [[Kalpana Chawla]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Indo-US astronaut follows Kalpana's footsteps |author=Salim Rizvi |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6169111.stm |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=11 December 2006 |location=New York |access-date=20 November 2012 |quote=Almost four years after the death of the first American astronaut Kalpana Chawla in the Columbia space shuttle disaster, Nasa has sent another woman of Indian origin into space.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Kalpana Chawla: Biography & Columbia Disaster |author=Nola Taylor Redd |url=http://www.space.com/17056-kalpana-chawla-biography.html |newspaper=[[Space.com]] |publisher=Tech Media Network |access-date=20 November 2012}}</ref> [[Sunita Williams]],<ref name="bio1">{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/williams-s.pdf |title=Sunita L. Williams (Commander, USN) |access-date=December 19, 2007 |publisher=[[NASA|National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] |year=2007 |author=NASA|author-link=NASA}}</ref> [[Raja Chari]]<ref name="nasabio">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/raja-chari/biography|title=Astronaut Candidate Raja Chari|last=Garcia|first=Mark|date=February 7, 2018|work=NASA|access-date=September 14, 2018|language=en|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206192452/https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/raja-chari/biography/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="CBS News">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-new-astronauts/|title=NASA introduces 12 new astronauts|last=Harwood|first=William|date=June 7, 2017|work=[[CBS News]]|publisher=[[CBS Broadcasting]]|access-date=June 8, 2017}}</ref><ref name="nasa">{{Cite web|last=Mars|first=Kelli|date=December 3, 2021|title=NASA Astronaut Candidate Anil Menon|url=http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/anil-menon/biography|access-date=December 22, 2021|website=NASA}}</ref> – flew as NASA astronauts. Williams with three spaceflights, have the record of most number of spaceflights by an astronaut of Indian origin.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biographical Data |url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/chawla_kalpana.pdf?emrc=b7b7dd |access-date=2024-02-02}}</ref><ref name="sunitawilliams">{{Cite web |title=Sunita L. Williams – NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/people/sunita-l-williams/ |access-date=2024-02-03 |language=en-US}}</ref> Williams and Chari are the only astronauts to have made long-term spaceflights.<ref name="sunitawilliams"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=NASA Astronaut: Raja Chari – NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/astronauts/raja-chari/ |access-date=2024-02-03 |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Sirisha Bandla]] is the first and only Indian-born woman to make a [[suborbital flight]] as a space tourist, which she did on [[Virgin Galactic Unity 22]] on July 11, 2021.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=2021-07-12|title=Sirisha Bandla: India celebrates woman who flew on Virgin Galactic|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57801518|access-date=2021-07-13}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2021-07-05|title=Family of Indian-American astronaut on Virgin Galactic crew "happy and overwhelmed"|url=https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/family-indian-american-astronaut-virgin-galactic-crew-happy-overwhelmed-2021-07-05/|access-date=2021-07-13|website=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Madhok|first=Diksha|title=Sirisha Bandla, India-born woman and Virgin Galactic executive, flies into space with Richard Branson|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/12/tech/sirisha-bandla-virgin-galactic-intl-hnk/index.html|access-date=2021-07-13|website=CNN|date=12 July 2021 }}</ref>

==Astronauts==
===Orbital===
{{sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable sticky-header"
|-
! No.
! Image
! Name Birth date
! Ancestry
! Birth
! Comment
! Missions (Launch date)
! Time in Space
|-
|1
|[[File:Kalpana Chawla, NASA photo portrait in orange suit.jpg|80px]]
|[[Kalpana Chawla]] March 17, 1962
|colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|{{IND}}
|First [[Indian American]] in space and First Indian origin woman in Space. Died on the [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|''Columbia'']].
|{{flagicon|USA}} [[STS-87]] (November 19, 1997) {{flagicon|USA}} [[STS-107]] (January 16, 2003)
| 31 days, 14 hours, 54 minutes
|-
|2
|[[File:Sunita Williams.jpg|80px]]
|[[Sunita Williams]] September 19, 1965
|{{IND}}
|{{USA}}
|Served on ISS [[Expedition 14]]/[[Expedition 15|15]], [[Expedition 32]]/[[Expedition 33 (ISS)|33]] and [[Expedition 71]]/[[Expedition 72|72]]. Second female commander of ISS. First female astronaut to fly on an orbital spacecraft's maiden flight, i.e., [[Boeing Starliner]].
|{{flagicon|USA}} [[STS-116]]/[[STS-117|117]] (December 9, 2006) {{flagicon|RUS}} [[Soyuz TMA-05M]] (July 15, 2012) {{flagicon|USA}} [[Starliner Crewed Flight Test]]/[[SpaceX Crew-9]] (June 5, 2024)
| 608 days, 20 minutes
|-
|3
|[[File:Brig Gen Raja J. Chari.jpg|80px]]
|[[Raja Chari]] June 24, 1977
|{{IND}}
|{{USA}}
|Selected in 2017 to [[NASA Astronaut Group 22]].
|{{flagicon|USA}} [[SpaceX Crew-3]] (November 11, 2021)
| 176 days
|-
|4
|[[File:Anil Menon portrait.jpg|80px]]
|[[Anil Menon (NASA astronaut)|Anil Menon]] October 15, 1976
|{{IND}}
|{{USA}}
|Selected in 2021 to [[NASA Astronaut Group 23]].
|''{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Soyuz MS-29]] (March 2026) (planned)''
| ''N/A''
|}

==Space Tourists==
===Suborbital===

{{sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable sticky-header"
|-
! No.
! Image
! Name
! Ancestry
! Birth
! Comment
! Missions (Launch date)
! Time in Space
|-
| 1
|
| [[Sirisha Bandla]] 
|colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | {{IND}}
| Second Indian-born woman to fly to space, First Indian-American space tourist.
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Virgin Galactic Unity 22]] (July 11, 2021)
| 14 minutes, 17 seconds
|-
| 2
|
| Andy Sadhwani
|style="text-align:center;" | {{IND}}
|style="text-align:center;" | {{USA}}
| Principal Propulsion Engineer at [[SpaceX]]
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Galactic 07]] (June 8, 2024)<ref>{{cite tweet |author=Jonathan McDowell |user=planet4589 |number=1799468227447476573 |title=Galactic 07 was dropped and fired its rocket engine at about 1526:30 UTC and landed at around 1541 UTC. Apogee not yet known. |date=8 June 2024}}</ref><ref name="vg-20240501">{{cite press release |url=https://www.virgingalactic.com/news/galactic-07-mission-launch-window-opens-june-8 |title='Galactic 07' mission launch window opens June 8 |date=1 May 2024 |access-date=4 May 2024 |work=Virgin Galactic}}</ref>
| 15 minutes, 10 seconds
|-
| 3
|
| Tushar Mehta
|style="text-align:center;" | {{IND}}
|style="text-align:center;" | {{USA}}
| a [[MIT]] graduate and [[Particle physics|Particle Physicist]]
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Blue Origin NS-30]] (February 25, 2025)<ref name="BOweb">{{cite web |date=25 February 2025 |orig-date=18 February 2025 |title=Blue Origin's New Shepard Completes 30th Mission to Space |url=https://www.blueorigin.com/news/new-shepard-ns-30-mission |access-date=21 February 2025 |website=Blue Origin}}</ref>
| 10 minutes, 8 seconds
|-
| 4
|
| Arvinder (Arvi) Singh Bahal
|colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | {{IND}}
| Indian-born real-estate investor, adventurer and private pilot.
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Blue Origin NS-34]] (August 3, 2025)
| 10 minutes, 8 seconds
|}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[[ISRO]]

[[Category:Indian astronauts|*]]
[[Category:Lists of astronauts by nationality|India]]
[[Category:Lists of Indian people by occupation|Astronauts]]
[[Category:Space programme of India]]

List of astronauts of Indian origin - Revision history

StaciWinslow at 10:37, 14 April 2026