Bhubaneswar: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to put in space the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), a modular space station, by 2035.
ISRO Chairman and Secretary of the Department of Space Dr V Narayanan, who interacted with students, researchers and faculty members of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) Deemed to be University (SOA) here, said that launching of BAS will enhance India’s presence in space research and foster advancement in space technology.
“India’s first ever human space flight mission, ‘Gaganyaan’ is expected to be launched in March 2027 for which four test pilots are undergoing training to be astronauts,” Dr Narayanan informed.
This will be preceded by launching of uncrewed missions to test systems as India’s objective is to become a global space power by 2047, said Dr Narayanan.
A rocket propulsion expert, Dr Narayanan pointed out that ISRO was established in 1969, when the US had already successfully put Neil Armstrong on the Moon. Despite the late start, ISRO had made phenomenal progress and succeeded in putting the first 35 kg satellite in space in 1980, he remarked.
“Since then, India has been able to develop six generations of launch vehicles and created a record by conceiving a 40-storey high rocket in only 27 days,” Dr Narayanan said.
There was a time, he said, when India was mocked, insulted and denied access to cryogenic engine technology. But since then, India had been able to develop three such engines, two of them indigenously, Dr Narayanan with great pride.
“India is the only country which soft-landed lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 on Moon’s south pole and is the first to find water molecules on the lunar surface,” he said, adding that India created a world record by placing more than 100 satellites in space on a single mission.
Further, India is also the only nation to have reached Mars’ orbit in its very first attempt, Dr Narayanan said.
He felt Chandrayan-4 will be a complex mission as it’s expected to bring back lunar sample.
Prof. Damodar Acharya, Chairman of SOA’s International Advisory Board and former Director of IIT-Kharagpur, was present.
