ISRO Chief aims launch first Module of Indian Space by….?

ISRO chairman S Somanath reportedly said that the first module of the space station, targeted to be launched by 2028, will weigh 8 tonnes and will be robotic.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath addresses the 50th Convention of the All India Management Association (AIMA), at the Taj Palace Hotel, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

India will have its space station during the Amrit Kaal in the next 25 years “ISRO”

“India will have its space station during the Amrit Kaal in the next 25 years,” said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath while speaking at the Bharatiya Vigyan Sammelan organised by Vijnana Bharati, an NGO working to popularise science, in Ahmedabad.

According to media report, Somanath said on Friday that it is targeting to launch the first module for the space station, called ‘Bharatiya Space Station’, by 2028.

“By 2028, we will launch the first module, that is the target. In another seven years, that is by 2035, we will build further modules and make the space station fully operational,” the ISRO chief said.

ISRO is developing a launch vehicle

He added that the ISRO is developing a launch vehicle to carry heavier loads to have the space station ready by 2035.

“This is because, for the 2028 launch (of the first module), we do not have a powerful rocket. We have a rocket called LVM-3, which can only take 10 tonnes, so the first module will be an eight-tonne mass module, which we will launch by 2028,” Somanath was quoted as saying.

The ISRO chief said a new rocket is being developed, which will be able to “carry a load of 20 of 1,215 tonnes” because “they cannot be launched in the current rocket (which can only take 10 tonnes).” 

Somanath said the Indian space organisation will seek approval for it and it will take about seven years to develop it.

ISRO’s The 2028 launch will be a robotic module

“The 2028 launch will be a robotic module, a satellite, where we can dock, conduct experiments and come back. A human being going (to the space station) can happen only after 2035. This is the plan as of today,” he was quoted as saying.

“By 2023, we should be able to send an ISS into space with human beings,” . “A human being going (to the space station) can happen only after 2035. This is the plan as of today,” he reportedly said.

Meanwhile, the ISRO announced a major update in India’s first solar mission, Aditya-L1. The space agency said that the Aditya-L1 spacecraft is expected to reach its destination on January 6.

The mission, the first Indian space-based observatory to study the Sun from a halo orbit L1, was launched by the ISRO on September 2 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota.

ISRO’s Aditya-L1 will enter the L1 point on January 6

“Aditya-L1 will enter the L1 point on January 6. That is what is expected. The exact time will be announced at the appropriate time,” Somanath told media persons in Ahmedabad on Friday on the sidelines of the Bharatiya Vigyan Sammelan.

Earlier it was said  on the sidelines of the Bharatiya Vigyan Sammelan organized by Vijnana Bharati, an NGO working to popularise science, Somanath had told mediapersons that, “When it reaches the L1 point, we have to fire the engine once again so that it does not go further. It will go to that point, and once it reaches that point, it will rotate around it and will be trapped at L1,” 

“Once it is successfully placed on L1 point, it will be there for the next five years, gathering all the data which are very important not for India alone but for the entire world. The data will be very useful to understand the dynamics of the Sun and how it affects our life,”

Aditya-L1 Mission:
The SUIT payload captures full-disk images of the Sun in near ultraviolet wavelengths

The images include the first-ever full-disk representations of the Sun in wavelengths ranging from 200 to 400 nm.

They provide pioneering insights into the intricate details… pic.twitter.com/YBAYJ3YkUy

— ISRO (@isro) December 8, 2023