France signs pact with India to collaborate on ISRO’s first human spaceflight programme “Gaganyaan”

India and France has recently signed an agreement to collaborate on ISRO’s first human spaceflight programme “Gaganyaan”. It was announcement by French space agency president Jean-Yves Le Gall at the 6th edition of the Bengaluru Space Expo. The first step under the MoU is to exchange specialists to work on (space) medicine. The ambit of the cooperation includes giving ISRO access to space hospital facilities in France and combining expertise of the two space agencies in fields of space medicine, astronaut health monitoring, life support, radiation protection, space debris protection and personal hygiene system. The two space agencies also plan to work on Mars, Venus and asteroids. The aim of the Gaganyaan mission is to send a 3-member crew to space for a period of 5 to 7 days by 2022. Its objectives are to inspire youth, increase science and technology levels in the country, improve industrial growth, develop technology for social benefits, etc.