The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced a significant change in its astronaut selection process by including civilians for the first time. The second batch will consist of 10 candidates, with 4 civilian specialists from STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) backgrounds and 6 military pilots. This decision marks a shift from the previous focus on military personnel, aiming to bring in diverse expertise for complex space missions. The training cycle for this new batch is projected to take about 4.5 years, with civilian specialists expected to participate in missions starting from the fourth Gaganyaan mission. ISRO has plans to expand its astronaut corps to a total of 40 astronauts to meet the demands of long-term human presence in space, including scientific research at the proposed Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035. To support this initiative, ISRO is upgrading its current temporary astronaut training center in Bengaluru to a permanent facility.