Fresh from the historic success of its Chandrayaan-3 mission, which soft-landed a rover on the lunar south pole in August 2023, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is now aiming for the stars, with Venus and Mars firmly in its sights.
New Planetary Ambitions
Isro Chairman V Narayanan, an alumnus of IIT-Kharagpur, has confirmed that the space agency has set its goals on Earth's neighboring planets. While delivering a keynote address at the golden jubilee conference of the Indian Cryogenic Council in Kolkata, Narayanan revealed that the Venus lander mission has already received approval. He expressed strong confidence that the Mars lander mission will also get the official go-ahead soon, marking a significant expansion of India's interplanetary exploration.
Gaganyaan and Other Key Missions Progressing
The nation's first indigenous human spaceflight program, Gaganyaan, designed to send Indian astronauts into space by 2027, is advancing rapidly. Narayanan stated that a remarkable 90% of the development work for Gaganyaan has been completed. Highlighting recent milestones, he detailed the second successful test of the main parachutes for the Gaganyaan Crew Module, conducted in Jhansi on November 3.
He described the test, noting, "A simulated mass equivalent to the crew module was dropped from an altitude of 2.5 km using the Indian Air Force's IL-76 aircraft. The parachute system deployed as planned and the sequence was executed flawlessly." This test followed the first integrated air drop test conducted over the Bay of Bengal on August 24.
A Packed Launch Schedule
India's space calendar is bustling with activity. Narayanan also announced that this year, the country will witness the first commercial launch of the PSLV N1 vehicle, which is being realized by an industry consortium. This launch will carry Isro's technology demonstration satellite, TDS01.
Looking further ahead, Isro's ambitious roadmap includes the Chandrayaan-4 mission, which is designed to collect samples from the Moon and bring them back to Earth. Furthermore, the launch of the first module of India's own space station, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), is also in the pipeline, cementing India's position as a leading space-faring nation.
