List of astronauts of Indian origin

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For Indian nationals in space, see List of Indian astronauts.

As of 2024, one Indian national and four people of Indian origin have been in space. The first and only astronaut of Indian national, in space was Rakesh Sharma on Soyuz T-11 in 1984.[1][2] Three astronauts – Kalpana Chawla,[3][4] Sunita Williams[5] and Raja Chari[6][7] – flew as NASA astronauts. Sirisha Bandla is the first and only Indian-born woman to make a suborbital flight, which she did on Virgin Galactic Unity 22 on July 11, 2021.[8][9][10]

Chawla and Williams are tied for the record of the number of spaceflights by an astronaut of Indian origin at two each.[11][12] Sunita Williams and Raja Chari are the only astronauts to have made long-term spaceflights.[12][13]

Orbital[edit]

No. Image Name
Birth date 		Ancestry Birth Comment Missions (Launch date)
1 Kalpana Chawla
March 17, 1962 		India First Indian American in space. Died on the Columbia. STS-87 (November 19, 1997)
STS-107 (January 16, 2003)
2 Sunita Williams
September 19, 1965 		India United States Served on ISS Expedition 14/15 and Expedition 32/33. Second female commander of ISS. STS-116/117 (December 9, 2006)
Soyuz TMA-05M (July 15, 2012)
Boeing Starliner-1 (future flight)
3 Raja Chari
June 24, 1977 		India United States Selected in 2017 to NASA Astronaut Group 22. SpaceX Crew-3 (November 11, 2021)

Suborbital[edit]

No. Image Name
Birth date 		Ancestry Birth Comment Missions (Launch date)
1 Sirisha Bandla
1988 		India Second Indian-born woman to fly to space Virgin Galactic Unity 22 (July 11, 2021)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Cosmonaut Biography: Rakesh Sharma". Spacefacts.de. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Rakesh Sharma". Mapsofindia.com. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  3. ^ Salim Rizvi (11 December 2006). "Indo-US astronaut follows Kalpana's footsteps". New York: BBC. Retrieved 20 November 2012. 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.
  4. ^ Nola Taylor Redd. "Kalpana Chawla: Biography & Columbia Disaster". Space.com. Tech Media Network. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  5. ^ NASA (2007). "Sunita L. Williams (Commander, USN)" (PDF). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
  6. ^ Garcia, Mark (February 7, 2018). "Astronaut Candidate Raja Chari". NASA. Archived from the original on February 6, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  7. ^ Harwood, William (June 7, 2017). "NASA introduces 12 new astronauts". CBS News. CBS Broadcasting. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  8. ^ "Sirisha Bandla: India celebrates woman who flew on Virgin Galactic". BBC News. 2021-07-12. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  9. ^ "Family of Indian-American astronaut on Virgin Galactic crew "happy and overwhelmed"". Reuters. 2021-07-05. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  10. ^ Madhok, Diksha (12 July 2021). "Sirisha Bandla, India-born woman and Virgin Galactic executive, flies into space with Richard Branson". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  11. ^ "Biographical Data" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  12. ^ a b "Sunita L. Williams – NASA". Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  13. ^ "NASA Astronaut: Raja Chari – NASA". Retrieved 2024-02-03.

External links[edit]

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