South Asia’s largest country has new plans to leave orbit. On Tuesday, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed that the republic is aiming to set up the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (Indian Space Station) by 2035 and to send the first Indian to the moon by 2040. This news comes as the country gets ready to launch a key test flight on Saturday for its first crewed mission, Barron’s reports. And with Modi’s ambitious perspective, the venture likely won’t be the last.
The prime minister told officials they should build on the success of Indian space initiatives—which is quite the launch pad. In 2012, India became the first Asian nation to put a satellite into orbit around Mars. The country’s space agency, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), launched an impressive 104 satellites in a single mission three years later. Its explorative pursuits also led India to become the first to land a spacecraft near the lunar south pole in August 2023. And last month, it was able to launch another to observe the outermost layers of the sun.
Modi requested that ISRO develop plans for “a series of missions” to the moon. While not much else has been revealed about the construction of the space station, experts also believe the country will be able to keep costs for its newly announced incentives low by copying and adapting existing technology. India says it only accounts for 2 percent of the RM1.85 trillion global space economy, according to Barron’s.
The country’s current focus remains on its first manned mission into space, dubbed Gaganyaan, or “Skycraft.” Slated to blast off next year, the operation will have crew embarking on a three-day mission in Earth’s outer orbit. It is expected to cost RM5.16 billion, according to ISRO. After all, sky-high ambitions often come with lofty price tags to match.
