The first is the fourth iteration of India’s lunar mission, Chandrayaan-4; the second is the development of Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM); the third is the construction of the first unit of India’s indigenous space station, dubbed Bharatiya Anatriksh Station (BAS), by extending the scope of Gaganyaan program; and the fourth is the development of Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV).
The Union Cabinet approved these four significant space endeavors on Wednesday for launch by the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) in the near future.
In total, the Cabinet cleared funds of more than ₹22,750 crore for the developmental costs of these four programmes.
India’s fourth mission to the Moon, for which a budget of ₹2,104.06 crore was cleared, will build on the success of Chandrayaan-3 , with which India became the first country to land a probe on the lunar south pole, and till date remains the standout mission among all of Isro’s achievements on the global stage.
Chandrayaan-4 will be a remote mission seeking to retrieve samples of the lunar surface. The mission, which will aim to bring rock samples from the lunar surface back to Earth after a soft landing, is slated for launch in 2027 and will expand on the technology developed in Chandrayaan-3 by adding elements like lunar docking, precision landing, sample collection and a safe journey back to Earth.
“It would make everyone proud that Chandrayaan-4 has been cleared by the Cabinet! This would have multiple benefits, including making India even more self-reliant in space technologies, boosting innovation and supporting academia,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X.
“This mission will achieve the foundational technologies capabilities eventually for an Indian landing on the Moon (planned by year 2040) and return safely back to Earth,” according to a government statement, which added that the mission is expected to be completed in 36 months of approval.
The approved cost for the mission includes spacecraft development and realization, two launches of Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3), external deep space network support, and conducting special tests for design validation, finally the mission of landing on Moon and safe return to Earth along with the collected lunar sample.
The second major approval of ₹1,236 crore was for VOM – India’s first scientific mission to Venus, which aims to enable scientists to better understand the Venusian atmosphere, and geology and generate data that gives information into the planet’s thick atmosphere.
The mission, which has set a target of March 2028, involves sending an orbital spacecraft to study the planet closest to Earth. Venus is believed to have formed in conditions similar to Earth, but the planet deviated due to a runaway greenhouse effect, making it uninhabitable for life. It offers a “unique opportunity to understand how planetary environments can evolve very differently”, the statement said.
The third approval was for the Gaganyaan follow-on missions and the building of Bharatiya Antariksh Station, or BAS.
Perhaps India’s most ambitious space project, BAS, aims to establish an Indian space station that will orbit 400km above the Earth’s surface. The 52-tonne behemoth will serve as a research platform for Indian astronauts and scientists to conduct experiments in microgravity, astronomy, and Earth observation, and will allow astronauts to stay in orbit for 15-20 days. Wednesday’s approval was for the first module of the project (dubbed BAS-1), which targets a launch in 2028. The target to complete the entire project is for 2035, according to Isro.
The project, which saw a net additional funding of ₹11,170 crore, expands the coverage of the Gaganyaan mission (slated to kick off next year).
“Revision in Gaganyaan programme to include the scope of development and precursor missions for BAS, and factoring one additional uncrewed mission and additional hardware requirement for the developments of ongoing Gaganyaan programme. Now the human spaceflight programme… is through eight missions to be completed by December 2028 by launching the first unit of BAS-1,” the statement said.
Also approved by the Union Cabinet was the development of the NGLV , a new launch vehicle that is capable of high payload, and will be cost-effective, reusable, and has the potential to be commercially viable.
According to the government, NGLV will have three times the present payload capability with 1.5 times the cost compared to LVM-3. It will also have reusability resulting in low-cost access to space and modular green propulsion systems. In total, ₹8,240 crore was approved for NGLV, which includes development costs, three developmental flights, essential facility establishment, programme management and launch campaign, the statement said.
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Source: HT
