The crew of the Gaganyaan, India’s first national spacecraft which is slated to go on its maiden space voyage in late 2025, has undergone an intensely in-depth training course at Russia’s Star City training center, first Indian cosmonaut and Hero of the Soviet Union Rakesh Sharma, who also prepared for a space flight at Star City, told TASS.

"I think the training was more in depth. In my case, there was a very, very short time. And I think the aims of the flight were also different. To be very frank, I think since the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was not preparing for manned space programs, my flight had more of a geopolitical meaning. So, as you know, 40 years have now elapsed since I went on that flight; it's only now that we are embarking upon a manned space program," Sharma said. "The training that the current crop of four ‘gaganauts’ have received has been a lot more in-depth and more substantive [than my pre-flight training was]."

Sharma emphasized that the thorough training of the Indian national crew also shows "the cooperative nature of Roscomos." "In the future, we will probably be needing to work together," he believes.