Indian-origin US astronaut Sunita Williams is among the nine astronauts named by NASA for its first human spaceflight programme since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011.
The space agency announced that the nine astronauts will launch on the first crewed test flights and missions of new commercial spacecraft built and operated by The Boeing Company and SpaceX.
The astronauts will launch on Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Dragon capsules to the International Space Station beginning in 2019.