Exclusive: Fashion tech expert explains Indian astronaut uniform design

The astronaut emblem includes wings, Ashok Chakra and ISRO logo.

The Indian Space Agency has commissioned the country’s top fashion institute to design ground uniforms for the four astronauts selected for the first space mission ‘Gaganyaan’.

The names of the four astronauts were announced last month and extensive preparations are underway at various centers of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the ambitious programme.

In February, the astronauts met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wearing blue ground suits designed by a team from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bangalore. The NIFT team also designed wings for astronauts. They specifically chose an asymmetrical design to give the uniform a unique dynamic look, with the blue color symbolizing sky and peace. The fabric chosen is Indian cotton.

NDTV’s Science Editor Pallava Bagla visited the design lab of Professor Jonalee Bajpai, who leads the uniform design team, to see how fashion technologists contribute to the look and feel of Gaganyaan.

Professor Jonalee Bajpai explains the importance of blue in ground clothing

The uniforms worn by the astronauts that day were selected from a catalog of 70 different uniforms provided by NIFT to ISRO. “My team worked on 150 designs and presented 70 different options to the ISRO team, and ultimately we settled on a vibrant asymmetrical style,” said Professor Bajpai.

The ground uniforms are different from the astronaut suits that India purchased from Russia.

Uniform dynamics explanation

Professor Bajpai said blue symbolizes calm, peace and perseverance.

“We also achieved a beautiful balance of dark and light blues and some horizontal stripes,” she added.

The astronaut emblem includes wings, Ashok Chakra and ISRO logo.

“The wings are like the openings of the solar panels and give a feeling of positivity, abundance, flight and height. It also indicates that the astronauts are from the Indian Air Force. At the center of it is the Ashok Chakra. We have merged ISRO with The symbols of chakras and wings, speak of the coming together of so many factors,” she said.

Why asymmetrical design

The floor suit has an asymmetrical design, with light blue on one side and dark blue on the other. Dr Mohan VK, fashion technologist at NIFT, Bengaluru, explains that asymmetry is very dynamic, contains a lot of visual information and gives a youthful look.

Dr Mohan VK explains asymmetrical design of ground uniforms

“Our brief was that this particular space suit should excite 1.4 billion Indians. Secondly, it should be a loud announcement of India joining the elite space club with space flight capabilities. Based on such brief, we narrowed down the design direction to Asymmetric.’ ,” Dr. Mohan said.

Prashanth Nair, Angad Prathap, Ajit Krishnan and Shubhanshu Shukla are the four test pilots of the Indian Air Force who were selected for the Gaganyan mission. The goal of the manned space mission is to put three astronauts into low Earth orbit and bring them back three days later.