Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced on Wednesday that Chandrayaan 3, which made history in 2023 by becoming the first spacecraft to land on the Moon's South Pole, has achieved a "milestone" that will soon be built upon by upcoming missions Chandrayaan 4 and 5. This announcement was made on the eve of India's inaugural National Space Day.
India is set to observe its first National Space Day on August 23 at the Bharat Mandapam, Plenary Hall in New Delhi, to honor the accomplishments of Chandrayaan. The theme for the celebration will be: “Touching Lives while Touching the Moon: India’s Space Saga.”
At the pre-event held in the capital on Wednesday, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology emphasized India's progress towards becoming a leading player in the global space industry.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission included a propulsion module (weighing 2,148 kg), a lander named Vikram (1,723.89 kg), and a rover named Pragyan (26 kg). It successfully landed near the Moon's South Pole on August 23, after traveling approximately 384,000 km over more than 40 days.
With the success of Chandrayaan-3, India has joined the ranks of the four nations—formerly the USSR (now Russia), the US, and China—that have achieved a soft landing on the Moon.
"Gayanyaan Mission is to send first Indian in Space in 2025," the Minister noted, adding that trial flights are currently underway. The Gaganyaan mission, India's first human spaceflight venture, had been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Minister also highlighted that opening the space sector to private investment has led to over Rs 1,000 crore in investments "within months of collaboration," and the number of space startups has surged to 300.
The space sector is projected to expand fivefold in the next decade, reaching $44 billion.
Additionally, he mentioned the planned Indian space station, the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS), which is expected to be operational by 2035. "One of the cornerstone projects is the establishment of the Bhartiya Antariksh Station by 2035 and an Indian landing on the moon by 2045," the Science and Technology Minister said.
In conjunction with these celebrations, ISRO announced a series of events across the country’s seven zones. "The events included demonstrations of satellite technology, model rocketry workshops, virtual reality experiences of space missions, and national-level competitions, including the ISRO Robotics Challenge and Bhartiya Antriksh Hackathon," stated Shantanu Bhatwadekar, Scientific Secretary at ISRO.
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