New Delhi: India has been given new wings to fly. That’s exactly what the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Dr S Somanath told an English news channel after the Union Cabinet approved a groundbreaking suite of space missions—including Chandrayaan-4—amounting to ₹ 31,772 crores. The other aspects covered by this allocation include a mission to Venus, and enhancements to the Gaganyaan project.
Great news for the space sector! The Union Cabinet has approved the first step towards the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), expanding the Gaganyaan programme! This landmark decision brings us closer to a self-sustained space station by 2035 and a crewed lunar mission by 2040!…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 18, 2024
It is being expected that these approved missions will elevate India’s status in the global space arena. Not just that, these will also help address practical applications of space technology to everyday life.
₹2,104 crore to Chandrayaan-4 with aims to land humans on Moon by 2040
A lion’s share of the allocation has been earmarked for Chandrayaan-4, amounting to ₹ 2,104 crore. This mission aims to collect samples from the Moon’s Shiv-Shakti area. This will be a crucial precursor to India’s goal of landing humans on the Moon by 2040. ‘The cost includes spacecraft development and realization, two launch vehicle missions of LVM3, external deep space network support and conducting special tests for design validation, finally leading to the mission of landing on moon surface and safe return to Earth along with the collected lunar sample,’ a government release read.
Slides from yesterday's cabinet approval announcement show #Chandrayaan4 will be launched on the upgraded LVM3! (2×🚀)
It's consistent with #ISRO's LVM3 upgrade timeline – C32 introduction in 2024, SC120 in 2027.
After these changes, LVM3's GTO capacity will stand at 5,100 kg! pic.twitter.com/zdHCdmOkvL
— ISRO Spaceflight (@ISROSpaceflight) September 19, 2024
“Chandrayaan-3 demonstrated it is possible for us to soft land at a location (on the moon) and then the scientific experiments did very well. Next step is to go and come back safely, and to do that we need to develop many technologies. All this is part of Chandrayaan-4. There will also be scientific missions like sample collection,” Somanath said, as quoted by NDTV.
What are the complexities involved in Chandrayaan-4?
The ISRO chief had claimed that if India went to moon, it would bring something new. But, bringing anything from the moon isn’t a cakewalk. To bring anything back, it needs to be drill and the sample has to be collected from different places on the moon. The process also involves robotic activity of taking the sample and storing the same in a container. “Then the container needs to be transferred from that place to a lander…All these are robotic, and can go wrong,” the ISRO chief told NDTV.
Additionally, a mission to explore Venus has also received approval, further showcasing ISRO’s commitment to planetary science. The establishment of the ‘Bhartiya Antariksha Station’, a homegrown space station, alongside the development of a new mega rocket, indicates a strong commitment to enhancing India’s capabilities in human spaceflight and deep space exploration.
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