Context:

• Setting up ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ (Indian space station) by 2035 and taking the first Indian to the Moon by 2040 are new targets for space agency ISRO. 

India’s Space Tech Triumphs

• The directions came from a meeting to assess the progress of the Gaganyaan Mission, which outlined the future of India’s space exploration initiatives. 
• Many technologies such as the human-rated launch vehicle, crew escape system, space suit, and the system to maintain the environment inside the crew module are being developed for the first time for the Gaganyaan mission.

India’s New Space Targets:  Indian Space Station by 2035, Indian on Moon by 2040

• Indian Space Station: According to the ISRO chief, the Indian space station is likely to be much smaller, weighing only 20 tonnes as compared to 450 tonnes of the International Space Station and 100 tonnes of the Chinese Tiangong Space Station.
• Moon Missions: The Department of Space has been tasked with developing a roadmap for Moon exploration, including a series of Chandrayaan missions. 
  • The next Chandrayaan mission will likely bring Moon samples back, eventually leading the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.
• Mars Missions: India has already sent an orbiter. The next step would be to send a lander, which the US and China have already achieved. 
  • Russia also has successfully landed on Mars but their lander stopped working soon after.
• Indigenous Lander Technology: India did not have lander technology before the Chandrayaan 2 mission, the lander was indigenously developed after Russia backed out following the failure of one of their landers to the Martian moon Phobos.
• Others: The scientists will also work towards a Venus Orbiter Mission and a Mars Lander Mission. 
  • ISRO will also work on a next-generation launch vehicle, a new launch pad, and human-centric laboratories and technologies. 

News Source: Mint