Indian government approves major space projects, including new rocket, missions to the moon, space station, Venus
The cabinet of Modi government in India today approved a whole range of major space projects for the next decade, including a sample return mission to the moon, the building of the first module of that country’s space station, an orbiter to Venus, and the development of a new more powerful but reusable rocket.
The lunar sample return mission, dubbed Chandrayaan-4, is targeting a launch about three years from now, and will be shaped to provide information leading to a manned lunar mission by 2040.
The cabinet also approved the development of the first module of its proposed Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), targeting a 2028 launch date with the full station completed by 2035. This approval also included a plan for manned and unmanned missions leading up to the launch of that first module.
Under the programme eight missions are envisaged — four under the ongoing Gaganyaan programme by 2026, and development of BAS-1, and another four missions for demonstration and validation of various technologies by December 2028.
The Venus Orbiter is now targeting a 2028 launch.
The new launch rocket, dubbed the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) will aim for reusability and be 1.5 times more powerful than the India’s presently most powerful rocket, the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3). The program to develop this new rocket however appears overally long (8 years) with relatively little flight testing (3 flights).
Overall, this government space program will likely energize India’s new commercial aerospace industry, as the Modi government is also attempting to shift as much of this work to private companies, rather than have its space agency ISRO do the work.
The cabinet of Modi government in India today approved a whole range of major space projects for the next decade, including a sample return mission to the moon, the building of the first module of that country’s space station, an orbiter to Venus, and the development of a new more powerful but reusable rocket.
The lunar sample return mission, dubbed Chandrayaan-4, is targeting a launch about three years from now, and will be shaped to provide information leading to a manned lunar mission by 2040.
The cabinet also approved the development of the first module of its proposed Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), targeting a 2028 launch date with the full station completed by 2035. This approval also included a plan for manned and unmanned missions leading up to the launch of that first module.
Under the programme eight missions are envisaged — four under the ongoing Gaganyaan programme by 2026, and development of BAS-1, and another four missions for demonstration and validation of various technologies by December 2028.
The Venus Orbiter is now targeting a 2028 launch.
The new launch rocket, dubbed the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) will aim for reusability and be 1.5 times more powerful than the India’s presently most powerful rocket, the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3). The program to develop this new rocket however appears overally long (8 years) with relatively little flight testing (3 flights).
Overall, this government space program will likely energize India’s new commercial aerospace industry, as the Modi government is also attempting to shift as much of this work to private companies, rather than have its space agency ISRO do the work.