Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman S Somanath on Tuesday expressed his wish to see more representation of women in the country’s space mission.

Somanath said that his desire echoes the sentiments of the nation, including that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“More women astronauts in space missions is part of my wish list, and I only echoed the voice of the nation, including that of the Prime Minister,” he told PTI.

The ISRO chief made the remarks during a ceremony at a temple in Thiruvananthapuram on the occasion of Vijayadasami.

He also issued a clarification on his remarks that ISRO prefers woman fighter test pilots or female scientists for its much-awaited human space flight programme Gaganyaan mission.

Somanath said that astronauts have already been selected and trained for the Gaganyaan’s inaugural mission and participation of women won’t be feasible now.

However, he expressed optimism about the increased participation of women in future Gaganyaan missions.

On Sunday, Somanath said that ISRO would send a female humanoid – a robot that resembles a human – in its unmanned Gaganyaan spacecraft next year. The ambitious mission aims to send humans into space on a Low Earth Orbit of 400 km for three days and bring them safely back to Earth.

On Saturday, ISRO successfully completed the launch and recovery of a test vehicle carrying the crew module for the Gaganyaan mission, accomplishing a key milestone for the country’s first human space flight project.

The test essentially involved launching the empty crew module and creating an emergency situation to test that in the event of an actual contingency, the module is capable of removing itself effectively and landing safely into the sea, from where it can be recovered.

The test was the first of many that the agency will perform as it prepares for a manned mission to space around 2025, agency chief S Somanath said.

(Inputs from agency)