India’s Modi declares goal to land human on Moon by 2040

Meeting organised to assess progress of India’s planned crewed orbital launch to space

India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has directed the country’s space agency to aim to send the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.

At a high level meeting on Tuesday, Mr Modi directed the space agency’s top leaders that the country should now aim for new and ambitious goals, including putting an Indian on the Moon and setting up the nation’s own indigenous space station by 2035.

The meeting was organised to assess the progress of India’s planned crewed orbital launch to space as part of its Gaganyaan Mission in 2025.

India’s Department of Space reportedly presented a comprehensive overview of the Gaganyaan Mission, including various technologies developed so far and updates on human-rated launch vehicles.

In the coming months, around 20 major tests, including three uncrewed missions of the Human Rated Launch Vehicle (HLVM3) are planned for the mission, the government noted in a statement.

The meeting evaluated the readiness of the Gaganyaan mission, affirming its launch in 2025.

Building on the success of India’s space initiatives, including the recent Chandrayan-3 mission to the Moon’s south pole, and the Aditya L1 mission to the Sun, the Indian prime minister directed that India should now aim for setting up “Bharatiya Antariksha Station (Indian Space Station)” by 2035 and sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.

The space department is planning to develop a roadmap for further exploration of the Moon, including a series of Chandrayaan missions and the development of a Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV).

The government agency is also considering and planning the construction of a new launch pad as well as the setting up of “human-centric Laboratories and associated technologies.”

Mr Modi also called upon Indian scientists to work towards further missions to other planets in the Solar System, including a venus orbiter mission and a Mars lander.