The Indian government has simultaneously approved plans to develop a new reusable rocket that will be the backbone of India’s space station, a robotic sample-return mission to the moon, and a scientific probe to explore Venus.
“Great news for the space sector!” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posts on XThe total cost of the project, approved by the Indian Union Cabinet, is estimated at $2.7 billion, with most of the funding going towards India’s space station and reusable launch vehicle.
If these projects reach their targets, the approvals announced by Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday will put India on track to become the world’s third-largest space power after the United States and China in the 2030s, said V. Narayanan, director of India’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre. In a recent presentationIt writes that India’s space programme will catapult the country into the “top three space powers of the world”.
This suggests that India wants to overtake Russia’s space program, which is in financial crisis due to its war with Ukraine. Russia still has a reliable crewed Soyuz spacecraft and will likely maintain a strong crewed space program as long as the International Space Station is in orbit. However, there are serious doubts about whether Moscow can support an independent national space station, a replacement for the Soyuz crewed spacecraft, or heavy-lift, reusable rockets.
Aiming high
If India succeeds in developing a space station and reusable rockets, and continues to make progress in lunar and interplanetary exploration, there is reason to believe that the South Asian powerhouse will achieve more in space than Russia over the next 15 years. Europe and Japan have also achieved much in space, but they lack independent human spaceflight programs and their governments have not taken any significant steps to support the development of reusable rockets.
India aims to become the fourth country to launch astronauts into orbit as early as next year with its Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission. Prime Minister Modi announced in 2018 that India’s Gaganyaan spacecraft would carry astronauts into space by 2022, but the plan was delayed by three years, and crewed flights are now targeted for the end of 2025. Even if the plan is delayed again, it is almost certain that India will be next to join the human spaceflight club; no other space agency is seriously committed to this field.
Last year, India became the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon with the Chandrayaan-3 mission. The lander deployed a small rover to drive on the lunar surface and return the first detailed measurements of soil composition near the moon’s south pole. The Chandrayaan-3 landing also set a record for the most-watched live event on YouTube, with 8 million users tuning in to watch the spacecraft’s final descent.
Perhaps the statistic is unsurprising, given that such a historic event took place in the world’s most populous country. Modi, India’s nationalist prime minister since 2014, has closely linked himself to India’s space successes and made it a source of national pride. The Chandrayaan-3 moon landing sparked flag-waving celebrations across India.
“The experience was truly like a fairytale,” said Pawan Goenka, director of India’s National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, a government agency that acts as an intermediary between India’s space agency and the private sector. “The whole country was in a celebratory mood. I have never seen an atmosphere like that when India beat Pakistan in a cricket match.”
India has pursued its space achievements frugally, including an independent regional navigation satellite network and a growing military space sector. Chandrayaan-3 cost the Indian government less than $100 million, a fraction of the cost of a comparable mission managed by NASA.
ISRO has received roughly $13 billion in funding over the past decade, making it the eighth-largest space agency in the world in terms of government investment, according to Steve Bottinger of space consulting firm NovaSpace.
Indian officials acknowledge that the country’s space achievements, the recent landing of Chandrayaan-3, have set a high bar for future missions, despite financial challenges. Extreme income inequalityand Limited opportunities for higher education.
“The success of Chandrayaan-3 symbolizes a new India, ready to make its mark on the global space stage,” Goenka said on India’s Space Day on August 23. “And it has brought global attention to India’s space technology capabilities. It has also raised national and global expectations for India’s space industry.”
