On Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the four astronauts who are getting ready for the country’s inaugural manned orbital mission. He expressed his belief that this new feat in space exploration will serve as motivation for the future generation.

Modi stated that the rocket launch countdown serves as inspiration for thousands of children in India. He believes that kids making paper planes now aspire to become scientists like those behind the launch.

The Gaganyaan mission, also known as “Skycraft,” is planned to send astronauts into Earth’s orbit by 2025. This will be a significant demonstration of the Indian Space Research Organization’s technical abilities.

Modi praised the ISRO scientists on Tuesday for their role in unlocking potential opportunities for the future.

During his trip to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Kerala, Prime Minister Modi awarded “astronaut wings” to four individuals: Ajit Krishnan, Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Pratap, and Shubhanshu Shukla.

The speaker emphasized that the four names or individuals represent more than just themselves – they embody the power and hopes of 1.4 billion Indians as “shakti,” a Hindu goddess.

“According to ISRO, the estimated cost of India’s first mission, Gaganyaan, is $1.08 billion.”

India intends to launch the four individuals into space for a duration of three days before safely returning them to its coastal waters via a gentle landing.

Modi previously shared intentions of building a space station by 2034 and sending individuals to the moon by 2040.

In August, India became only the fourth country to successfully land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon, following Russia, the United States, and China.

In the subsequent month, it initiated an investigation to observe the outer layers of the sun while in orbit around it.

India’s space program has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the moon in 2008, and it has steadily matched the achievements of established spacefaring powers, at a fraction of the cost.

By utilizing existing technology and leveraging a large pool of highly qualified engineers who earn significantly lower salaries compared to their international peers, India is able to maintain low costs.