Should aim to send first Indian to the Moon by 2040: PM Modi

After a meeting to assess the progress of India’s Gaganyaan Mission, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on Tuesday said 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.

The Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of ISRO's human spaceflight capability by launching a human crew to an orbit of 400 km and bringing them safely back to earth by landing in Indian sea waters.

"The Department of Space presented a comprehensive overview of the Gaganyaan Mission, including various technologies developed so far such as human-rated launch vehicles and system qualification. It was noted that around 20 major tests, including 3 uncrewed missions of the Human Rated Launch Vehicle (HLVM3) are planned. First demonstration flight of the Crew Escape System Test Vehicle is scheduled on October 21," the PMO said in a statement.


The meeting evaluated the mission’s readiness, affirming its launch in 2025.

ISRO on Monday said it would commence unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission with the launch of a test vehicle between 7 am and 9 am on October 21 from Sriharikota spaceport to demonstrate the performance of the crew escape system.

In a message on social media platform X, the national space agency headquartered here, said, “Mission Gaganyaan: The TV-D1 test flight is scheduled for October 21, 2023 between 7 am and 9 am from SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota.”

In order to send the first manned mission to the satellite, the department is set to develop a roadmap which will encompass a series of Chandrayaan missions, the development of a Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), construction of a new launch pad, setting up human-centric laboratories and associated technologies.

"Prime Minister also called upon Indian scientists to work towards interplanetary missions that would include a Venus Orbiter Mission and a Mars Lander," the statement read.

India's space ambitions received a filip in 2023 following the success of the Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L-1 missions.