Wing Commander Nikhil Rath from Odisha has completed his first-phase training for Gaganayaan, the country’s first manned mission to space.
Notably, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned Gaganayaan in 2022.
Rath is an Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot. He along with three others from India has completed the training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC) in Russia.
A resident of Sudapada in Balangir town, Rath joined the IAF in 2004 and is currently working as a Wing Commander at the Chandigarh airbase.
He will be the first Odia as part of the space mission.