IAF calls back its decorated officer Group Captain Ajit Krishnan to join his unit after Operation Sindoor
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ May 8,2025
Amid Indo-Pak ongoing tension, Indian Air Force has called back its decorated officer Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, one of the four Indian Air Force officers selected for India’s first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan.
On May 6,2025 Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology; Earth Sciences and Minister of State for PMO, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh had said that India’s first human Space mission “Gaganyaan” programme has entered its final phase, with the first human spaceflight now scheduled for the first quarter of 2027.
Today, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan is called back to his unit. He is in Delhi for an international space conference and was scheduled to be in the national capital till Friday.
Krishnan, commissioned in 2003, is a decorated flying instructor and test pilot with nearly 2,900 hours of flying experience on multiple aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI and MiG-29.
Krishnan and fellow astronaut-designate Angad Pratap are currently training in India, while the other two, Shubhanshu Shukla and Prasanth B Nair, are in the US preparing for the upcoming Axiom-4 mission.
The Gaganyaan mission is set to launch a crew of three to low Earth orbit at a distance of nearly 400 km from the ground for a three-day mission and then bring them back safely.
IAF calls back its decorated officer Group Captain Ajit Krishnan to join his unit after Operation Sindoor. Krishnan, who was attending the Global Space Exploration Conference in Delhi , confirmed to media that he was leaving the capital early to rejoin his team. “I have been called back by the IAF. You know, because of the current situation,” he told The Print, referencing the heightened alert after India’s precision airstrikes on terror infrastructure across the border in response to the recent Pahalgam attack.
