India unveils astronaut-designates for its 1st human spaceflight

NEW DELHI, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government on Tuesday unveiled four Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots as astronaut-designates for the South Asian nation's first human spaceflight mission with the spacecraft Gaganyaan scheduled for next year.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the astronauts during an event at Vikram Sarabhai Space Center in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of the southern state of Kerala.

"After 40 years, an Indian is going to space. But now, the time, the countdown and the rocket are ours," said Modi.

Previously in 1984, an Indian national went to space as part of a Soviet mission.

The Gaganyaan mission aims to send three astronauts to an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bring them back safely to earth by landing in Indian sea waters.

Meanwhile, Modi stated that by 2035 India will have its own space station.