New Delhi: Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS), the Indian space station, is anticipated to be operational by 2035, according to Dr Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology.
The MoS claimed that the space sector announcements included in the Union Budget 2024–2025 have a forward-looking outlook.
He outlined the ambitious objectives of launching an Indian into space “by the second half of 2025” and setting foot on the Moon for the first time by 2040.
“In 2023, we saw an investment of Rs.1,000 crore. The projection is that the space economy will grow five times in the next 10 years or around $44 billion,” Singh said. This is also expected to prevent “talent that might have gone abroad.”
He said that the first human spaceflight mission from India, Gaganyaan, had been postponed because of COVID and would launch the following year. He declared, “The trial flights are ongoing.”
Furthermore, by 2025, India hopes to launch “robot flights, where a female robot, Vayumitra, will be sent to space.”
The robot will perform all astronaut functions, land back on Earth, and be removed from the landing craft.
The Minister added that the 2023 New Space strategy has helped to unleash the Indian space industry and has increased the number of digital space companies from one in 2021 to around 300.
Singh noted that the policy opened doors for the private sector to participate in ISRO’s activities and helped the sector achieve new heights.
“The 2023 new space policy was a watershed moment. For the first time, the private sector was allowed to participate in ISRO’s activities,” the minister said while speaking to the media.
“From one digital startup in the Space sector in 2021, we are nearing 300 now,” he added, noting some are “world-class, many are entrepreneurial stories.”
He also pointed out that In-SPACe, set up in 2020, was an interface between the government and private sector, and New Space India aimed to produce and assemble launch vehicles.
He mentioned AgniKul Cosmos, which recently launched the world’s first rocket with a fully 3D-printed engine. The Minister said that to reinforce the ISRO infrastructure, they have also set up a private launchpad on the ISRO premises.
Further, he noted that another space startup, Skyroot, which carried out the first-ever private sub-orbital launch, is now working on being the first to develop a rocket in the private sector.
“All this is placing India as a frontline player in the private sector,” the MoS said, adding that “global companies like SpaceX are reaching out to India.”
–IANS
