ISRO’s Space Push: Chandrayaan-4, LUPEX Progress, Space Station Work Begins
New Delhi: India’s space programme is gearing up for an action-packed finish to the financial year, with ISRO confirming seven more launches lined up before March. The busy manifest includes a commercial communication satellite along with multiple PSLV and GSLV missions — marking one of the agency’s most intense operational phases in recent years.
ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan, in a recent interview, said the upcoming schedule also features the first PSLV entirely built by Indian industry, a milestone in the country’s push for stronger domestic space manufacturing.
Chandrayaan-4 Cleared for Lift-Off Planning
Narayanan confirmed that the government has officially approved Chandrayaan-4, India’s ambitious lunar sample-return mission aimed at bringing Moon soil back to Earth. The mission, expected around 2028, will build on lessons from Chandrayaan-3 and take India into an elite group of spacefaring nations capable of sample-return operations.
He also noted steady progress on LUPEX, the India–Japan joint mission to explore the Moon’s south polar region — a zone of global scientific interest due to the potential presence of water-ice.
ISRO to Triple Spacecraft Output
To meet rising mission demands, ISRO plans to triple spacecraft production within the next three years. The ramp-up is designed to support India’s expanding ambitions in planetary science, commercial launches, human spaceflight and deep-space exploration.
Indian Space Station Work Underway
Narayanan revealed that ISRO has begun early work on India’s proposed Bharatiya Antariksha Station, targeted for completion by 2035. The first module is expected to be deployed into orbit by 2028, setting the stage for India’s long-term presence in space.
Human Spaceflight on Track; Moon Mission by 2040
The Gaganyaan programme — India’s first human spaceflight mission — remains on schedule for a 2027 crewed launch, despite adjustments to the timeline of uncrewed test missions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also directed the space agency to chart a roadmap for sending Indian astronauts to the Moon by 2040, underscoring the country’s growing strategic and scientific ambitions.
What It Means
The combination of a high-frequency launch calendar, a next-generation lunar mission, accelerated spacecraft production and long-term projects like a national space station signals a transformative phase for ISRO. The agency is clearly shifting from landmark breakthroughs to sustained, large-scale space capability, positioning India firmly in the global space race.
