Budget Cuts Delay ISRO-NASA Astronaut Mission and Gaganyaan Program

India’s ambitious joint space mission with NASA, aimed at sending an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS), has faced a substantial budget cut, leading to a deferral of the mission to the next fiscal year, a Parliamentary panel report revealed on Tuesday.

Despite the postponement, the budget allocation for 2025-26 has been drastically reduced to just one-sixth of the original amount set for 2024-25, raising concerns over India’s spaceflight timeline. The Gaganyaan program, India’s first human spaceflight initiative, has also experienced a budget reduction of over $42 million due to delays in hardware realization and milestone-based payments.

Announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2023 visit to the U.S., the ISRO-NASA collaboration was initially planned for 2024. Two astronauts—Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Backup-Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair—began training for the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) in August 2024 and completed it by November.

The House panel noted that funding for the astronaut mission was cut from $86 million to $49 million in FY25, citing rescheduling. However, the further reduction to $16 million in the 2025-26 budget suggests indefinite postponement. ISRO officials assured lawmakers that the collaboration with NASA and Axiom Space remained intact and necessary funds would be allocated later.

Meanwhile, the Gaganyaan program saw its $145 million budget slashed to $102 million, with actual expenditure till December 2024 reaching $75 million. The Parliamentary Committee raised concerns over repeated funding cuts, emphasizing the need for predictable financial allocations to maintain mission timelines.

The Department of Space faced a broader budget shortfall of $307 million, potentially affecting other planned initiatives. The Committee urged the government to ensure stable funding to keep India’s human spaceflight ambitions on track.