The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed a Framework Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, to jointly undertake research in space medicine — a specialised field that studies the health effects of spaceflight on the human body. This marks the first formal institutional collaboration between ISRO and AIIMS on human health in the space environment.

The MoU is directly aligned with India's Gaganyaan programme, the country's first crewed spaceflight mission, which aims to send Indian astronauts (Vyomanauts) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Space medicine research under this partnership will focus on key challenges astronauts face in microgravity and space radiation environments, including cardiovascular deconditioning, bone density loss, fluid shifts, immune system changes, and psychological stress during long-duration missions.

Under the MoU, AIIMS will contribute expertise in clinical medicine, physiology, biomedical engineering, and rehabilitation, while ISRO will provide data from simulated and actual space conditions. Joint research protocols, academic training programmes, and the development of health monitoring technologies for use in crewed missions are also envisaged.

Space medicine is a growing field globally, with agencies like NASA and ESA having dedicated programmes. India's move to institutionalise this through the ISRO-AIIMS partnership places it among nations with systematic frameworks for human spaceflight health. This collaboration will also benefit terrestrial medicine — technologies developed for space health monitoring have applications in telemedicine, remote patient care, and intensive care units.