India is set to make history once again with the imminent launch of its second citizen into space. While Rakesh Sharma remains the only Indian citizen who has ventured into space, that status is about to change. 

Unlike Sharma’s 1984 journey aboard a Soviet rocket, this upcoming mission will take place on an American spacecraft. The exciting announcement came from Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor, during a speech at the Indian Institute of Technology.

Though the name of the astronaut is not disclosed yet, Sullivan confirmed that this astronaut is a similar Indian Air Force officer to Rakesh Sharma. For this mission, this astronaut will be traveling to the ISS along with some American astronauts. A few astronauts have undergone heavy training, but as of now, the final selections are kept secret.

US-India space collaboration 

Sullivan, representing the outgoing Biden administration, highlighted cooperation in space between India and the US. "India and the US are partners in the Artemis Mission," he said, referring to the ambitious plan of NASA to return humans to the Moon. The third mission of the Artemis program aims to bring humans back to the Moon - for the first time since the Apollo missions in the 1970s.

SpaDeX mission: 

Sullivan also spoke about the upcoming astronaut mission, but he also mentioned India's Space Docking Experiment or SpaDeX. The SpaDeX mission is scheduled for January 9 and is a project of the Indian Space Research Organisation. 

This experiment will demonstrate the capability to dock satellites in space—a critical step toward India's vision of establishing its own space station.

Sullivan emphasized this cooperation, calling attention to the discussions he had earlier with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. "We've built a deeply personal relationship over the last couple of years," Sullivan stated, highlighting an increasingly strong friendship between the two nations.

As his term comes to an end on January 20, when Donald Trump is sworn in as President, Sullivan’s visit to India is one of his final international engagements. The announcement of these joint ventures signals a robust future for US-India cooperation in space exploration, fostering innovation and scientific progress.