ISRO is planning to create a dedicated isolation and training facility for India’s astronauts at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The proposed centre, to be called ‘Gaganyadri Niwas’, is estimated to cost ₹26.02 crore.
The move is linked to ISRO’s ongoing work on the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission. The agency is also working on plans for an Indian space station, proposed under the name ‘Bharatiya Antariksh Station’.
In the absence of a full-fledged astronaut training and isolation centre in India, the first batch of Gaganyaan astronauts—Prasanth Nair, Subhanshu Shukla, Angad Pratap and Ajit Krishnan—had to undergo isolation-related training at facilities in Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and at NASA.
ISRO has now decided to establish such a facility within the country and has invited tenders for the Sriharikota project. The centre is expected to provide world-class accommodation and medical monitoring, along with fitness support and training to help astronauts remain seated in a spacecraft for long hours.
The isolation set-up is also intended to ensure astronauts remain free from infections before launch through controlled quarantine and continuous health supervision.
