ISRO announces new timelines for Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan-4 missions. View the details here

ISRO chairman S Somanath announced new dates for some important upcoming missions: Gaganyaan, the manned space mission, likely to be launched in 2026; The sample return mission Chandrayaan-4 will be launched in 2028. The much-delayed India-US joint NISAR mission is finally scheduled for next year, he added.

The dates were announced by Somanath on October 26 while delivering the Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture at Akashvani (All India Radio), according to a report by The Indian Express. The ISRO chief also said that India aims to increase its contribution to the global space economy from the current 2 percent to at least 10 percent over the next decade.

Somanath also announced that Chandrayaan-5 would be a joint moon landing mission with Japanese space agency JAXA. Originally named LUPEX, or Lunar Polar Exploration, the time frame of this mission was not clarified, but will likely take place after 2028. He also said that this would be a very tough mission as the rover on Chandrayaan-3 weighed just 27 kg. weight while in Chandrayaan-5 it would weigh 350 kg.

The ISRO chief also said that India needs to undergo a revolutionary transformation to emerge as a developed economy. He also praised Elon Musk for his innovative work in the space sector, adding that Musk’s achievements have inspired the work within ISRO.

Somanathan made these remarks yesterday while addressing students at the 13th convocation ceremony of the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Delhi.

“We have reached a level where we are the fifth largest global economy, but to go further we need to build on and improve our technology. We must work hard to develop our own expertise in areas such as propulsion, materials sciences and orbital dynamics,” he said.

Somanathan welcomed the government’s recent initiatives to open up the space sector to private players and said it was a step in the right direction.

“The government has recognized the importance of private investment and participation in space. This will accelerate development cycles, reduce costs and increase our global competitiveness,” he said.

(With input from agencies)