New rocket, plus moon and Venus missions, herald new beginnings

Indian government approves new space projects, including Gaganyaan missions, Venus and Moon missions, and private sector satellite projects.

Preview: The Indian government recently signed off on numerous new projects, including work on a new rocket and new moon and Venus missions. The space programme is thus on the cusp of important new beginnings. India is also preparing to launch the NISAR and Proba-3 satellites, and has received some good news from Astrosat. The private sector is also working on satellite projects of its own.

The Union Cabinet on September 18 approved four missions under the ‘Gaganyaan’ human spaceflight programme and four missions to test technologies for India’s first space station, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station 1, by 2028. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) also added one uncrewed Gaganyaan flight in addition to the planned two.

The Cabinet approved an additional funding of Rs 11,170 crore for the four Station-related missions and the additional Gaganyaan flight.

The Cabinet also approved ISRO’s development of the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) for Rs 8,240 crore. This includes the cost of the rocket’s first three development flights. ISRO is expected to develop the vehicle in collaboration with industry, so that industry players can seamlessly take over for operational flights when the rocket is tested and ready.

A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) built by Hindustan Aeronautics, Ltd. and Larsen & Toubro is expected to launch at the end of 2024 or early 2025. Likewise, New Space India, Ltd. is expected to select a private entity to commercialise the LVM-3 rocket. 

The Cabinet has also approved a scientific mission to Venus and the next Chandrayaan mission to the Moon. The Venus Orbiter Mission is expected to be launched in a window available in March 2028 and will cost Rs 1,236 crore. With the mission, scientists hope to study the planet’s acerbic surface and atmosphere to understand how different planets of the Solar System evolved.

Chandrayaan-4 will be a sample-return mission. Its components will be launched on two separate LVM-3 launch vehicles; they will dock in earth orbit before going to the moon, and land on the surface near the location of Chandrayaan 3. There the mission will scoop up some samples of moon soil and rock and send them back to the earth onboard a bespoke canister. The mission is expected to be launched by 2027 and cost Rs 2,104 crore.