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New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the new lunar mission ‘Chandrayaan-4’ which aims to develop the technology required to land Indian astronauts on the moon and bring them back safely to Earth. A statement said that the ‘Chandrayaan-4’ mission will develop the basic technology to land Indian astronauts on the moon (by the year 2040) and bring them back safely to Earth. It said, “Key technologies required for joining / detaching from the space station, landing of the spacecraft, safe return to Earth and lunar sample collection and analysis will be demonstrated.” At the same time, the cabinet also approved the expansion program of the Gaganyaan project to send a spacecraft to the orbit of Venus and to build an Indian Space Station (BAS).
It will be completed within 36 months of approval
The statement said that a total amount of Rs 2,104.06 crore is required for the technology demonstration of the ‘Chandrayaan-4’ mission. It said that the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will be responsible for the development and launch of the spacecraft. This mission will be completed within 36 months of approval with the participation of industry and academia. The statement said that all the important technologies related to it have been envisaged to be developed indigenously.
PM Modi said in a post on ‘X’, “Very good news for the space sector. The Union Cabinet has approved the first step towards the Indian Space Station (BAS) by expanding the Gaganyaan program.” The Prime Minister said, “This historic decision will bring us closer to a self-sufficient space station by 2035 and a manned lunar mission by 2040.” Informing reporters about the cabinet decisions, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that the government has allocated Rs 2,104 crore for the ‘Chandrayaan-4’ mission.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman S. Somnath said, “The natural successor to Chandrayaan-3 is the demonstration of the capability to collect lunar samples and return them safely to Earth.” The Cabinet has approved Rs 1,236 crore for the ‘Venus Orbiter Mission’ (VOM), which is expected to be launched in March 2028. The ‘Venus Orbiter Mission’, operated by the Department of Space, will involve placing a spacecraft in orbit around Venus to better understand its surface and subsurface, atmospheric processes and the effect of the Sun on the Venus atmosphere.
Study of changes in planet Venus
Venus, the closest planet to Earth and believed to have formed under conditions similar to those on Earth, offers a unique opportunity to understand how planetary atmospheres can evolve in very different ways, a statement said. Studying the underlying causes of the changes on Venus will be very helpful in understanding the evolution of both Venus and Earth, it said. The Cabinet approved the development of a partially reusable next generation launch vehicle (NGLV) with a payload capacity three times that of ISRO’s Launch Vehicle Mark-3. It allocated Rs 8,240 crore for the development of NGLV, three developmental flights, required facility, programme management and launch campaign.
An official statement said that this will be an important step towards India’s goal of establishing and operating the Indian Space Station and developing the capability of landing Indian crew on the Moon by 2040. It said that the NGLV will have three times more payload capacity than the launch vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) and will cost 1.5 times more. It also said that the partially reusable launch vehicle will provide low cost access to space. (Language)
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