Glavkosmos had earlier said the four Indian astronauts were trained in abnormal descent module landing - in wooded and marshy areas in winter; on water surface, and in the steppe in summer.
The Cabinet on Wednesday approved participation of the private sector in the entire range of space activities, including planetary exploration missions.
According to ISRO Chairman K Sivan, ISRO's aim is to have the first unmanned flight by the end of next year. ‘Gaganyaan’ is India’s manned space mission which the ISRO aims to launch by December 2021. The project aims at sending the astronauts to a lower orbit of the earth and the spacecraft will have a capsule with adequate supply of oxygen and other essential material and facilities for the ‘Gagan Yatris’.
The Indian Air Force had earlier shortlisted 12 potential astronauts for the Gaganyaan project, out of which, seven pilots were sent to Russia for training.
Thoothukudi is about 600 km southeast of Chennai. The country's first spaceport is at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 90 km northeast of Chennai.
He said a large number of advance satellite launches are planned in the coming months.
Chandrayaan-2, India’s second moon mission spacecraft, had lifted off successfully onboard the “Bahubali” rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on July 22.
ISRO has been racing against time to spring 'Vikram' back to life and salvage the lander-rover part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) came up with a clarification on Monday that its Chairman K Sivan does not have any personal account on the social media.
India’s ambitious lunar mission faltered in the last leg on Saturday as Vikram lander lost its connection with the ISRO.
