• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has outlined its plans for the coming two decades.
• It wants to build a space station by 2035, and send astronauts to the Moon by 2040.
• This follows a successful spacecraft landing in August of this year.

India has big plans for space. After the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully landed a spacecraft on the Moon in August, the ISRO has outlined some of the other ambitious projects that are in the works over the next two decades.

To that end, by 2035 India wants to establish its own version of the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit, and five years later, aims to send astronauts to the surface of the Moon.

These plans were shared in a presentation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the ISRO and Department of Space unpacking the events of the aforementioned moon landing or Gaganyaan Mission.

“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,” the Indian government explained in a press statement.

“Building on the success of the Indian space initiatives, including the recent Chandrayan-3 and Aditya L1 Missions, 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,” it added.

Given that India is only the fourth country in the world to successfully land a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, its plans to send human beings there within the next two decades can certainly happen.

“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,” the government continued.

Given South Africa’s close ties to India as a result of our BRICS bloc affiliation and native diaspora, it will be interesting to see whether the technologies and solutions developed by the ISRO in its pursuit of space exploration will have any impact on South Africa, especially as there has been no real will from any African nation to foray into orbit in an official capacity.

Either way, it’s clear India wants to be a key player when it comes to space exploration over the coming decades.

[Image – Photo by Naveed Ahmed on Unsplash]