India Plans To Send Man To The Moon By 2040, Set Up Space Station By 2035

Big endeavors are in the works for India's space exploration program as the country aims to send an astronaut to the moon by 2040 and set up a space station by 2035, the government said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting Tuesday to review the progress of India's first human spaceflight mission called Gaganyaan. He also listed objectives for future Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) missions.

"Building on the success of the Indian space initiatives, including the recent Chandrayan-3 and Aditya L1 Missions, Prime Minister directed that India should now aim for new and ambitious goals, including setting up 'Bharatiya Antariksha Station' (Indian Space Station) by 2035 and sending first Indian to the Moon by 2040," an official statement said.

Modi also called upon Indian scientists to work on interplanetary missions that could see a Venus Orbiter Mission and a Mars Lander in the coming years.

"Prime Minister Modi expressed confidence in India's capabilities and affirmed the nation's commitment to scaling new heights in space exploration," the statement added.

ISRO is currently gearing up for a test flight scheduled Saturday for the Gaganyaan mission to assess India's capability to launch manned space missions.

Saturday's test flight will be followed by another test flight carrying a robot to outer space. The final mission aims at sending a human crew to an orbit of 248 miles before bringing them back safely to land in Indian waters.

The department of space, which oversaw the ISRO missions, presented a comprehensive overview of the Gaganyaan Mission during the Tuesday meeting.

"It was noted that around 20 major tests, including three uncrewed missions of the Human Rated Launch Vehicle are planned. The first demonstration flight of the Crew Escape System Test Vehicle is scheduled on 21st of this month. The meeting evaluated the mission's readiness, affirming its launch in 2025," a statement said.

ISRO chairman S Somanath also spoke about India's space exploration ambitions, saying the agency's agenda included exploring exoplanets and also a Mars Lander Mission that was in the conceptual stage.

Somanath noted that ISRO was aiming for a December launch for its first dedicated polarimetry mission to study radiant X-ray pulsars or stars in the process of dying. ISRO was also working on the X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite as part of the mission.