ISRO Launches ‘Mission MITRA’ in Ladakh to Test Crew Safety for Human Spaceflight
In April 2026, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched ‘Mission MITRA (Mapping of Interoperable Traits & Reliability Assessment)’, a high-altitude analogue mission from Leh, Ladakh, conducted between April 2 and 9, 2026, to gather vital data on crew performance and human factors for India’s Gaganyaan program and future long-duration space missions.
In April 2026, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched ‘Mission MITRA (Mapping of Interoperable Traits & Reliability Assessment)’, a high-altitude analogue mission from Leh, Ladakh, conducted between April 2 and 9, 2026, to gather vital data on crew performance and human factors for India’s Gaganyaan program and future long-duration space missions.
- The initiative, led by ISRO’s Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) in collaboration with Protoplanet Private Limited, aims to simulate space-like conditions to study team behavior, resilience, and communication for India’s Gaganyaan crew.
About Mission MITRA:
Objective: Mission MITRA is a week-long high-altitude exercise testing physiological, psychological, and operational performance under extreme cold, low oxygen (hypoxia), and isolation, with a multidisciplinary team monitoring safety and generating data for future human spaceflight.
Crew: Four Gaganyaan astronaut-designates, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, Ajith Krishnan, Angad Pratap, and P. Balakrishnan Nair, participated in the exercise at 3,500 metres (m) altitude.
Operational Interoperability: This study is targeted to generate vital understanding on the team inter-operability between crew (gaganyatris) and ground control teams and effectiveness of decision making under environmental and operational stress.
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