PM reviews Gaganyaan mission, sets ambitious target to set up Indian Space Station by 2035, sending Man to Moon by 2040

Chennai, Oct 18 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to assess the progress of India’s first human flight Gaganyaan Mission and outlined the future of India’s ambitious space exploration endeavours, that included setting up Indian Space Station by 2035, sending Man to Moon by 2040 and mission to Venus and Mars.

The meeting, held in New Delhi, evaluated the Gaganyaan mission’s readiness, affirming its launch in 2025.

The Department of Space presented 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.

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

Calling upon Indian scientists to work towards interplanetary missions that would include a Venus Orbiter Mission and a Mars Lander, Mr Modi expressed confidence in India’s capabilities and affirmed the nation’s commitment to scaling new heights in space exploration.