Modi inaugurated three space infrastructure projects costing INR 18 billion ($217 million) on Tuesday at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Indian prime minister also introduced four Indian pilots to the world who have been trained to fly in space for India's first manned space mission, Gaganyaan.
The pilots are: Group Captain P Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander S Shukla. All of the pilots are with the Indian Air Force (IAF) and have extensive experience working as test pilots.
Their initial training took place at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Glavkosmos (a subsidiary of Russia's Roscosmos space agency) after the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding for the training of four astronauts in June 2019.
The Gaganyaan mission will dispatch three Indian astronauts to Low Earth Orbit, approximately 400 kilometres above the Earth's surface, where they will remain for three days. After that, they will be brought back to Earth safely with a landing in Indian sea waters.
Meanwhile, a netizen shared a video of four pilots getting trained at Russia's Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center for 13 months. In the video, pilots can be seen experiencing micro-gravity, survival training in the snow, water, deserts, extreme-environment stresses (centrifuge), etc.
"The country has come to know about the four Gaganyaan passengers. These are not just four names or four people. These are four powers who will take the aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians to space", the prime minister said after revealing the names of the four astronauts.
"Forty years later, an Indian is going to space. But this time, the timing, the countdown and the rocket belong to us", Modi said. Earlier, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma (retired) went to space in 1984 as part of a Soviet space mission.
The projects PM Modi inaugurated today include the PSLV Integration Facility (PIF) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota; the new "Semi-Cryogenics Integrated Engine and Stage Test Facility" at the ISRO Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri; and the "Trisonic Wind Tunnel" at the VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram.
"The PIF will help in boosting the frequency of (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) PSLV launches from 6 to 15 per year. This state-of-the-art facility can also cater to the launches of SSLV and other small launch vehicles designed by private space companies", a press release issued by the Prime Minister's Office reads.
"The new 'Semi-cryogenics Integrated Engine and Stage Test facility' will enable the development of semi-cryogenic engines and stages which will increase the payload capability of the present launch vehicles", the release said.
"Trisonic wind tunnels are essential for aerodynamic testing for the characterisation of rockets and aircraft during flight in the atmospheric regime", the release added.