ISRO announces new schedules for Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan-4 missions. Check the details here

ISRO Chairman S Somanath announced new dates for some important upcoming missions: Gaganyaan, a manned space mission likely to be launched in 2026; The Chandrayaan-4 sample return mission will be launched in 2028. The much-delayed joint India-US NISAR mission is finally scheduled for next year, he added.

The dates were announced by Somanath on October 26 during the Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture at Akashwan (All India Radio), according to a report in The Indian Express. The ISRO chief also said that India aims to increase its contribution to the global space economy to at least 10 percent in the next decade from the current 2 percent.

Somanath also said that Chandrayaan-5 will be a joint moon landing mission with Japan’s JAXA space agency. Originally named LUPEX, or Lunar Polar Exploration, the time frame for this mission has not been specified, but is likely to take place after 2028. He also said that it would be a very heavy mission as the rover on Chandrayaan-3 weighed only 27 kg. weight, while Chandrayaan-5 would weigh 350 kg.

The ISRO chief also said that India needs to undergo a revolutionary transformation to rise as a developed economy. He also praised Elon Musk for his innovative work in the space sector, adding that Musk’s achievements inspired his work at ISRO.

Somanathan made these remarks while addressing students at the 13th convocation ceremony of the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Delhi yesterday.

“We have reached a level where we are the fifth largest economy in the world, but to move forward we must build and improve our technology. We need to work hard to develop our own expertise in areas such as propulsion, materials science and orbital dynamics,” he said.

Somanathan welcomed the government’s recent initiatives to open up the space sector to private players, saying it was a step in the right direction.

“The government has recognized the importance of private investment and participation in space. This will accelerate development cycles, reduce costs and increase our global competitiveness,” he said.

(Courtesy of agencies)