New Delhi. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman V Narayanan recently confirmed that the government has approved the Chandrayaan-5 mission, a significant step in India’s lunar exploration efforts. The approval is in line with ISRO’s broader goal of a human landing on the Moon by 2040. Narayanan made the announcement at a felicitation ceremony in Chennai, where he detailed ISRO’s upcoming missions, including the Chandrayaan-4 mission. Chandrayaan-5 will include a 350-kg rover developed in collaboration with Japan, which will demonstrate advances in lunar landing and sample collection and lay a strong foundation for future human missions.
Narayanan also highlighted the success of India’s Chandrayaan missions, especially Chandrayaan-3, which made India’s first soft landing on the lunar surface. However, he also mentioned the failures of Chandrayaan-2, which failed to land. But he praised the learnings from this failure and the resilience of the Indian space community.
India’s space station and future plans
Narayanan also informed that India is planning to set up its own space station by 2035, which will be called ‘Indian Space Station’. He also said that ISRO has been directed to work on a plan to send Indian astronauts to the moon through indigenous rockets. This mission will especially focus on safe return.
Global presence and launch success
ISRO has successfully launched 433 satellites internationally in the last decade, taking its success rate to an impressive 90%. In addition, ISRO also supported the commercial launch of 393 foreign satellites and three Indian satellites between 2015 and 2024. Countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Canada and Israel have relied on India’s launch capabilities. Narayanan also underlined India’s growing focus on solar studies. ISRO has successfully launched a satellite dedicated to researching the Sun, making India join the exclusive group of four countries doing solar exploration.
Construction of new rocket launch facility
The ISRO chairman also informed about the upcoming rocket launch complex, which is coming up at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of this facility in February, and its construction will begin in March. This new site will provide polar launch facility of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), which will give India an opportunity to play a strong role in the global small satellite market. Several dignitaries like former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and former Chennai Mayor Saidai Duraisamy were also present at the ceremony.
