Indian astronauts taking part in the country's first manned space mission, ‘Gaganyaan’ – scheduled for next year – are likely to wear Russian-made suits, The Hindustan Times has reported, citing documents accessed by the outlet.

According to the report, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will likely make the choice "considering the programmatic requirements and to doubly ensure the crew safety."

This is despite India developing its own Intra Vehicular Activity (IVA) suits for the mission, with the work about to be completed, the outlet added.

India has been closely working with Russia on the $1.4 billion ‘Gaganyaan’ mission under various agreements on space cooperation, mega sb signed by the leaderships of the two countries, including the 2018 pact on collaboration in human spaceflight. India then sought help from Russia in specific areas of the ‘Gaganyaan’ program, including life-support systems, crew modules and astronaut training.

During his visit to Vladivostok in 2019, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that India and Russia’s "long association in space is touching new heights."