17 Years After India First Landed On The Moon, An Indian Will Step On The Moon For The First Time

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to assess the progress of India’s Gaganyaan Mission and to outline the future of India’s space exploration endeavors. 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. The first demonstration flight of the Crew Escape System Test Vehicle is scheduled for 21 October. The meeting evaluated the mission’s readiness, affirming its launch in 2025. Building on the success of the Indian space initiatives, including the recent Chandrayan-3 and Aditya L1 Missions, the Prime Minister directed 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.