Voyager Looks To India For Crew Flight Services

Voyager Space, one of four companies holding NASA contracts supporting the development of commercially owned and operated stations in low Earth orbit, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the use of India’s upcoming Gaganyaan crewed transportation system to service its planned Starlab outpost. 

The MOU, announced July 10, is between Voyager, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Department of Space and the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe).

“The objective is to jointly study the potential use of ISRO’s Gaganyaan spacecraft to provide crewed flights to the Starlab station,” Voyager said in a statement.

Voyager and IN-SPACe will also “seek additional collaboration opportunities with various stakeholders within the Indian space ecosystem, including research institutions, commercial entities, and government agencies,” it added.

“This collaboration creates opportunities for joint exploration, research and commercial endeavors across Voyager’s enterprise and Indian space entities,” Voyager Chief Revenue Officer Clay Mowry said. “We are thrilled to join hands with ISRO and IN-SPACe to explore the utilization of the Gaganyaan spacecraft for Starlab.”

An uncrewed flight test of the Gaganyaan spacecraft is expected in late 2023 or 2024.