April 03, 2026

The Crew safety & performance are the most critical elements of all Human Spaceflight Missions. Ability of Crew to communicate effectively, adapt to stress, maintain psychological resilience and support one another determines the success and safety of any mission. Analog missions conducted under controlled yet realistic conditions are utilized to understand how Crew perform under challenging conditions.

Towards above,ISRO has undertaken mission MITRA in Leh, Union Territory of Ladakh, from April 02 to 09, 2026. The high altitude of approximately 3,500 meters at Leh having the environmental conditions of hypoxia, low temperature, and isolation as a natural analog for spaceflight operations.

Mission MITRA is a first-of-its-kind team behavioral study designed by ISRO & IAF-Institute of Aerospace Medicine to examine the physiological, psychological, and operational dynamics of Crew and ground teams functioning in a high-altitude environment. This study is targeted to generate vital understanding on the team inter-operability between Crew (Gaganyatris) &ground control teams and effectiveness of decision making under environmental & operational stress.

M/s Protoplanet Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru, an Indian start-up is responsible for facility management and statutory protocols. Mission MITRA was inaugurated on 2nd April 2026 through a virtual address from Bengaluru by Dr. V Narayanan, Chairman, ISRO/Secretary, DOS in presence of Air Commodore Shri N. K. Tripathy, Director, Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM), Shri DK Singh, Director Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC), Shri Ganesh M. Pillai, Scientific Secretary, ISRO and Shri Hanamantray Baluragi, Director, Human Space Programme (DHSP), ISRO Headquarters Bengaluru.