Akula Mohan Sai
Hyderabad: As India is celebrating Shubhanshu Shukla after his return from the International Space Station, a scientist from Telangana has been selected for a space mission in 2029.
Akula Mohan Sai, a native of Huzurnagar, Suryapet district has been selected as Astronaut Candidate for Titans Space mission 2029. The mission will be conducted by Titans Space Industries, a United States based private agency.
Sai is one of the 125 Astronaut candidates selected from across the world. What’s unique about the scientist is that he is one of only nine graduates in Astrobiology and Space Science in India.
Speaking to Siasat.com, Sai explained about the mission and the Indian context of it. “In 2024, I was selected for a training programme in the US. Two days before the travel, I got a call from the Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Indian Airforce, Bengaluru,” he said.
“The management was curious to know how I was selected for the International space mission and the training process. I was asked to deliver a presentation regarding the same; following the presentation they offered me a job while having lunch,” Sai added.
He expressed surprise and gratitude on being offered the job at a prestigious institute. Speaking of his motivation to opt for the field, the scientist said, “In 2020, PM Modi mentioned about India’s space ambition during his Independence Day speech.”
Modi stressed on India’s ambition regarding human space flight. One of the goals set by the PM was for India to have its own space mission, which is Gaganyan.
Elaborating on Gaganyaan, Sai said, “Gaganyaan is the mission where India is planning to develop a spacecraft which could take humans into space. The extended goal is to have an indigenous spacecraft, able to lauch and orbit in the space for three days and safely splash down.”
By 2035 India wants to set up its own space station, “The recent mission on which Shubhanshu Shukla sir participated and went to the International Space Station was a milestone for India. We aren’t party to the Combine Space Treaty, designed for International Space Station.”
The treaty outline that no single country has a monopoly over space. “The ISS has been orbiting in the space for the past 25 years. India sent Shubhanshu Shukla on a special request to have some first-hand experience which could help us build on our space mission for 2035,” the scientist added.
He further said that based on Indian government’s space ambition, he began researching. ” I did graduation in BSc Bio Technology, Chemistry and Botany. I realised that space has become a national interest; accordingly I resigned from an NGO in Hyderabad that I was working with. Then I researched space mission and learnt about habitability on the Moon and Mars,” he said.
In 2023. Sai was selected as a crew Astro-Biologist for a space training programme in Poland, where he represented India among candidates from six nations, including Brazil, Greece, Italy, Poland, Canada. The candidates were placed in isolation for 10 days.
After completing the simulation exercise, Sai received an email regarding the master’s programme in Astro Bilogy and space science. “I applied for the course while being in Poland , since this was going to help me gain substantial knowledge about space and use it practically,” the scientist added.
He said that most astronauts in the past were from the military and were trained for specific space missions only. However. Sai wanted to have a broader knowledge of the space domain.
In 2024, Sai was selected as the crew medical officer for another space programme in Poland for the LunArese Research Station. “At the LunArese space station, astronaut candidates are trained for human missions on the moon and Mars,” Sai explained.
Elaborating on the pre-mission training the scientist said that astronaut candidates are trained in Isolantion Confinement in Controlled Environment (ICCE). “The intensity of light, atmosperic pressure, air flow are controlled during this exercise,” he added.
The second phase of training is done in an Isolated Confinement Environment (ICE), during this exercise is done in an extreme environment. The trainees will be put in isolation under volcanic, desert or underwater simulation.
Sai further said that 125 astronaut candidates will be trained over two years at Titan Space Industries in Arizona, US, before being sent on the actual mission in 2029. The astronauts will stay in space for two hours.
The Titans Space Industries, founded by Neal Lachman is developing the Genesis Spaceplane, a reusable Single-Stage-to-Orbit vehicle, along with the Titans Orbital Port Space Station (TOPPS), Selene cis-lunar missions, and the Titania Lunar Base. Genesis is scheduled for its maiden Earth-Loop
orbital cruise in 2029, followed by regular orbital and lunar expeditions.
The Basic Training Plan (2026–2027), designed by experts Dr. Vladimir Pletser, Dr Mindy Howard, and veteran NASA astronaut Bill McArthur, includes 16 training blocks covering spacecraft systems, space medicine, EVA readiness, parabolic flights, and human factors in ICE (Isolated, Confined, Extreme) environments.
Selected ASCANs will proceed to Advanced Training in 2028 and Mission-Specific Training in 2029, preparing them for Genesis flights and long-duration space station missions.
This post was last modified on September 8, 2025 2:21 pm