17-year-old Aditya Pandya has become India’s youngest male analogue astronaut after taking part in a lunar-habitat-inspired space mission in the white plains of Dholavira in Gujarat’s Kutch region.

AAKA Space Studio, a space research and simulation organisation and a registered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Space Tutor, conducted the analogue mission from February 1 to February 8, to study how humans live and work in isolation under moon-like conditions. The mission focused on habitat living, crew autonomy, and system reliability in a controlled but demanding environment.

As reported by India Today, the mission involved a four-member analogue astronaut crew who lived together inside a container-based habitat for the entire duration. The crew followed strict protocols similar to planetary missions, with limited external interaction and dependence on onboard systems for daily operations.

Aditya led the mission’s hardware, Internet of Things (IoT), and habitat intelligence systems. For six months before the mission, he worked on building the technology that powered the habitat, combining engineering design with real-world testing.

The lunar analogue habitat was designed to mirror the constraints of a moon-like environment. It comprised a digital twin framework which permitted real-time synchronisation between the physical habitat and mission control systems. This setup enabled continuous monitoring of environmental conditions and crew health.

Aditya was involved in designing and integrating several key systems which included internal and external sensors for environmental monitoring, biometric systems to track the crew’s physical parameters, and embedded hardware to detect faults and ensure safety. As both the system architect and one of the astronauts living inside the habitat, he tested the systems he built under real operational stress.