The country is likely to set up India's Space Station called Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS) by 2035, according to what Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister, Department of Space, says.
Singh called the announcements in the Union Budget 2024-25 on the space sector to be inspired by a futuristic vision, in which some of the ambitious goals were set to send an Indian to space in the second half of 2025 and land the first Indian on the Moon by 2040.
"In 2023, we saw an investment of Rs 1,000 crore. The projection is that the space economy will grow five times in the next 10 years or around $44 billion", he added to emphasize that this growth will help retain the talent which goes abroad otherwise.
He added that work on Gaganyaan—India's first indigenously made human spaceflight mission, which had been delayed by COVID-19—would take off in the coming year, with trial flights being undertaken at this juncture.
In 2025, India will also send into space a female robot, Vayumitra. This robot is expected to conduct astronaut activities, return to Earth, and be recovered from the landing craft.
The 2023 New Space policy was also lauded by School Singh as the revamped sector ready to make the private-sector participation in ISRO activities boost digital space startups, from one in 2021 to nearly 300 as of date. He went on to add that the policy opened up the gates for the private sector and brought in massive advancement.
He highlighted In-SPACe, established in 2020 as an interface between the government and the private sector, and New Space India, which looks at production and assembling of launch vehicles. A few accomplishments listed included AgniKul Cosmos's world's first rocket with a fully 3D-printed engine and Skyroot's first-ever sub-orbital launch by a private entity.
"All this is placing India as a frontline player in the private sector," the MoS said, adding that "global companies, including SpaceX, reach out to India".
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