The announcement came as a surprise to many people within ISRO, the country’s space agency.

Such a feat would make India just the fourth country to put a human into space, after Russia, the United States, and China. But it was soon revealed that the announcement came as a surprise to many people within ISRO, the country’s space agency.

“We were not expecting it,” said ISRO chairman K. Sivan in a press conference, before adding, “It is not an unrealistic schedule. We are confident of achieving it even before 2022.”