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India is set to take its space activities to a new level by sending its first astronaut to the Moon by 2040 – an obvious but ambitious step after Chandrayaan-3’s successful Moon landing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the Department of Space to set up the country’s original space station ‘Indian Space Station’ (Hindi translation of Indian Space Station) by 2035 and send the first Indian astronaut to the Moon five years later, the government said. Tuesday
Initially, India aimed to build its own space station in 2022 which would be operated by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). However, that plan was delayed due to technical issues that affected the country’s human space flight project ‘Gaganyaan’ and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department of Space will develop a roadmap for Moon exploration that will include the development of next generation launch vehicles; construction of a new launch pad; creation of human-centered laboratories and related technologies; As well as a series of Chandrayaan missions, the government said.
Modi directed the department during a high-level meeting to assess the progress of the Gaganyaan mission. The project, scheduled to take place in 2025, aims to launch three crew members into an orbit of about 250 miles (400 kilometers) for three days. Crew Escape System Test Vehicle makes first unmanned demonstration flight scheduled for this week,
The government said about 20 major tests are planned as part of the programme, including three unmanned missions of the Human Rated Launch Vehicle (HLVM3).
“We believe that today’s timeline announcement by the Prime Minister will strengthen India’s commitment to bring new leases of possibilities to our country in space and foster innovation in this new journey. It will also pave the way for our private space players to contribute to the growing growth in our country’s space sector,” said Lieutenant General AK Bhatt, Director General of the Indian Space Association.
India’s ambition to become a significant market for space activities attracted public attention when the country opened its space sector to private companies in June 2020. The government created the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe) as a nodal agency to carry out the work. Startups and Industry. This helped the number of space technology startups in the country grow to more than 150 and attract foreign investment.
Indian space tech startups currently operate in a variety of sectors, including developing launch vehicles for micro and small satellites, building satellites for hyperspectral imagery and creating infrastructure for space situational awareness.
Earlier this year, India introduced its much-awaited space policy to set guidelines for collaboration between public and private entities. Industry stakeholders have appreciated the regulatory change but sought clarity on foreign direct investment to expand capital investment in the South Asian nation.
“Prime Minister Modi expressed confidence in India’s capabilities and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to scale new heights in space exploration,” the government said in a statement.
Modi also called on Indian scientists to launch interplanetary missions including Venus Orbiter Mission and Mars Lander.
In 2014, India launched a Mars Orbiter Mission named Mangalyaan as its first interplanetary mission to observe the Red Planet. The Indian government also launched its solar probe Aditya-L1 in September this year, 10 days after the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the lunar surface in August.
India signed NASA’s Artemis agreement in June to partner with countries participating in space exploration. NASA also committed to provide advanced training to Indian astronauts at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and send them to the International Space Station in 2024.
In 2024, ISRO and NASA are also set to launch a low-Earth orbit observatory to map the entire planet in 12 days and measure changes in Earth’s ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation biomass, sea level and natural disasters and hazards. Will provide continuous data to analyze. ,
