India and France achieved another historic landmark in their decades-old cooperation in the space sector after French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced his country's participation in India’s Gaganyaan human space flight programme. 

Space agencies of India and France on Thursday signed an agreement for cooperation for India’s first human space mission, Gaganyaan. The agreement was reached after the French Foreign Minister's visit to the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) headquarters. The development was confirmed by Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India.

National Centre for Space Studies of French CNES  said under the agreement, equipment developed by it, tested and still operating aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will be made available to Indian crews. The CNES will also be supplying fireproof carry bags made in France to shield equipment from shocks and radiation, it said. The agreement was announced during French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian's visit to the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) headquarters in Bengaluru.

 ISRO has asked CNES to help prepare for the Gaganyaan mission and to serve as its single European contact in this domain, the French space agency said. "Under the terms of the agreement, CNES will train India's flight physicians and CAPCOM mission control teams in France at the CADMOS centre for the development of microgravity applications and space operations at CNES in Toulouse and at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany," the CNES said.

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