ISRO to launch India’s own space station to send more humans to space

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India is planning to launch its own space station. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today, ISRO chief K Sivan said, the ambitious project which will enable the agency to send more humans to space when executed. 

He said, India will not join the International Space Station. Mr Sivan said, the mission will also be an extension of the Gaganyaan project implying that there will be several phases to the human space mission project. 

He said, India will be launching a small module and that will be used for carrying out microgravity experiments. 

The weight of the space station is likely to be 20 tonnes. 

Mr. Sivan said the proposal will be sent to the government for approval after the first Gaganyaan mission. 

A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting crew members, designed to remain in space for an extended period of time and for other spacecraft to dock. 

Currently, there is only one fully functioning space station in Earth’s lower orbit, the International Space Station and astronauts conduct different experiments in it. 

Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said, Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on 15th of July. He said, it will land in September and will carry a rover. It will be an extension of Chandrayaan-1.

Chandrayaan-2 will contain three components, Orbiter, Lander and Rover and the total composite module will weight 3.8 tonnes. Dr Singh lauded the commitment and hard work of scientific community and highlighted the benefits of usage of space technology in improving the lives of common people. 

He said, Chandrayaan-I was instrumental in identifying water on the moon. Dr Singh said, applications of space technology in areas such as infrastructure, disaster management and security have eased lives of common people and improved the delivery of Government’s welfare programmes. 

On the forthcoming Gaganyaan Mission, Dr Singh said that by the 75th anniversary of Independence in 2022, India will be launching its first human space flight. 

He said, the Government has sanctioned ten thousand crore rupees for this Mission, which is being guided by the Gaganyaan National Advisory Council that has eminent scientists and persons as members.