India, France set up working group to collaborate on human space mission

India and France on Thursday announced a working group for Gaganyaan, the first manned mission of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), PTI reported. French space agency President Jean-Yves Le Gall made the announcement at the sixth edition of Bengaluru Space Expo. India plans to send three humans to space before 2022. The ISRO’s mission would make India one of the four countries in the world after Russia, US and China to launch a manned space flight. ISRO and Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency, will be combining their expertise in space medicine, astronaut health monitoring, life support, radiation protection and space debris protection. Engineering teams have begun discussions on infrastructure such as a center for development of microgravity applications and space operations. The two agencies also have plans to work on Mars, Venus and asteroids.