NEW DELHI, November 12. /TASS/. Russia sees possibilities for expansion of equipment supplies for India’s Gaganyaan space flight program, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said at a plenary meeting of the intergovernmental Russian-Indian commission.

"We attach great importance to expansion of cooperation in the area of space development. We see possibilities to expand supplies of equipment and components for the Indian national human space flight program Gaganyaan," he said.

The official also mentioned projects in the area of satellite navigation that are being implemented.

In August 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially announced that his country would send the first national space crew into orbit by August 2022, when India would be celebrating 75 years of liberation from British colonial rule. The project's name Gaganyaan (derived from the Sanskrit word for heaven: "gagana") means "celestial ship." However, due to delays stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, which halted most work on the project in March 2020, the Gaganyaan mission is now scheduled for 2025. Four crew members have already been trained at Russia's Star City and are now continuing their training in India.