Crewed lunar mission

Underscoring India's space prowess, ISRO Chief V Narayanan noted that the country ranks number one globally in nine space categories. ISRO's achievements range from the discovery of water on the Moon via its Chandrayaan-1 mission to securing the first soft landing near the lunar south pole with the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

The ISRO Chief added that, building on this success, the Prime Minister has set the ambitious goal for India's first crewed lunar mission by 2040, after which ISRO anticipates having the capability to transport citizens to the Moon and back.

International strategy and data insights

ISRO Chief V Narayanan also provided update on other ISRO missions and collaborations:

• International Collaboration: India is open to international collaborations in space based on its scientific and strategic priorities.
• Aditya L1 Success: The Aditya L1 mission has already yielded over 15 terabits of solar data, providing deep insights into coronal mass ejections and space weather.

Future infrastructure needs

• Heavy-Lift Rocket: ISRO needs to focus on building a rocket capable of lifting 80,000 kg to Low Earth Orbit to support its future ambitions.
• Commercial Success: Underscoring India's reliability in space, the ISRO Chief stated that the agency has successfully launched 433 satellites belonging to 34 countries commercially.

Gaganyaan parachute test

Meanwhile, ISRO recently released video of a key parachute test for India’s ambitious Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission. The footage shows a drogue parachute, a 5.8-meter conical ribbon chute packed in a mortar system, deploying at high speed from a test capsule to validate its role in slowing and stabilizing the crew module during re-entry.

Quelle: INDIA TV