Space station by 2035, man on moon by 2040: PM Modi sets lofty space mission goals

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, October 17

Eyeing a major share of the global space market currently dominated by the US and China, India on Tuesday set ambitious goals for the national space agency with an aim to set up a space station by 2035 and send a man on moon by 2040.

ISRO chairman S Somanath presented space mission goal objectives at a review meeting of the department of space taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he also reviewed readiness of Gaganyaan, the human space flight Mission, for which the first precursor unmanned test flight is to be launched by ISRO on October 21.

The high-level meeting to assess progress of India’s Gaganyaan Mission and to outline the future of India’s space exploration endeavours witnessed a comprehensive overview of the Gaganyaan Mission, including various technologies developed so far such as human-rated launch vehicles and system qualification.

It was noted that around 20 major tests, including 3 uncrewed missions of the Human Rated Launch Vehicle (HLVM3) are planned.

First demonstration flight of the Crew Escape System Test Vehicle is scheduled on 21 October. The meeting evaluated the mission’s readiness, affirming its launch in 2025.

Building on the success of the Indian space initiatives, including the recent Chandrayan-3 and Aditya L1 Missions, the Prime Minister directed that India should now aim for new and ambitious goals, including setting up ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ (Indian Space Station) by 2035 and sending first Indian to the Moon by 2040.

To realize this vision, the Department of Space will develop a roadmap for Moon exploration, a government statement said.

This will encompass a series of Chandrayaan missions, the development of a Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), construction of a new launch pad, setting up human-centric Laboratories and associated technologies.

Prime Minister also called upon Indian scientists to work towards interplanetary missions that would include a Venus Orbiter Mission and a Mars Lander.

Prime Minister Modi expressed confidence in India’s capabilities and affirmed the nation’s commitment to scaling new heights in space exploration.

India recently became the first country in the world to land a mission on the unexplored South polar region of the moon.