India will build its own station in space, Gaganyaan mission may be launched next year

The country has made considerable progress in space missions in the last few years. India now plans to build its own space station. Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday that the name of this station will be “Bharat Space Station”. It can be established by 2035.

Singh gave information about the country’s ambitious plans related to space in a press conference. He told, “Our own space station is going to be built. It will be called India Space Station. It will be built by 2035. We can land an Indian on the Moon by 2040.” Regarding the country’s first human space flight mission Gaganyaan, Singh said that by the beginning of 2026, the first Indian astronaut will travel to space under this mission. He said that in the last decade, India has launched 397 foreign satellites from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has a satellite launch center in Sriharikota.

Recently ISRO chief, S Somanath had informed about postponing the Gaganyaan mission by a year. He had told that before the country’s astronaut mission in space, many test flights without crew will be conducted. ISRO is taking full caution regarding the preparation of Gaganyaan mission. With the launch of this mission, India will become the fourth country after America, Russia and China to send astronauts to space. ISRO’s elaborate training procedures and the addition of a fourth uncrewed flight are also among the reasons for postponing the mission. In the Gaganyaan mission, one or two astronauts will be taken to Low Earth Orbit, about 400 kilometers above the Earth.

The return of American space agency NASA’s astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed till February next year due to a technical problem in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. In June this year, Williams and his fellow astronaut Wilmore arrived at the ISS on a mission of only eight days. However, their return had to be postponed due to technical problems with the Styliner. ISRO has also learned from this case. ISRO has conducted many tests to enhance the safety of Gaganyaan mission. These also include assessment of the evacuation mechanism and recovery system in case of emergency.