NEW DELHI: To take the next giant leap in India's Moon mission after the successful landing in the uncharted lunar south pole, the Union cabinet on Wednesday approved the fourth mission to the Moon ' Chandrayaan-4 ' for bringing lunar samples back to Earth, and also gave a green light for building the first unit of Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) by 2028 and its overall completion by 2035 by increasing the scope and nearly doubling the budget of the Gaganyaan follow-on missions.
After successful missions to the Moon and Mars, India is now set to explore Venus, with the cabinet also approving the development of the Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM) that will explore the Earth's sister planet. The cabinet, just after the completion of 100 days of Modi Govt 3.0, also cleared the development of a reusable next-generation launch vehicle (NGLV) 'Soorya rocket' that will have three times the present payload lifting capability - from 10 tonnes to 30 tonnes - to the low earth orbit (LEO), I&B minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. TOI was first to report about the development of 'Soorya' and Chandrayaan-4 mission.
Isro chairman S Somanath said, "Chandrayaan-4 mission is primarily targeted to go to Moon and come back. Doing it at low cost is the highlight of the mission. To send a man to the Moon by 2040, we need to gather the technology, have confidence on it. Right now, we don't have it. So, we have to go step by step."
"The fourth Moon mission is "planned for Rs 2,104 crore". The Chandrayaan-4 mission is expected to be "completed within 36 months of approval", the cabinet statement said.
Cabinet on Wednesday approved the development of the first module of BAS. It also revised the Gaganyaan programme to include the scope of development and precursor missions for BAS, and factored an additional un-crewed mission.
VOM, expected to launch in March 2028, will help unravel the "Venusian atmosphere, geology and generate large amounts of science data probing into its thick atmosphere", the statement said. The Cabinet has "approved a fund of Rs 1,236 crore for the VOM, of which Rs 824 crore will be spent on the spacecraft".
To increase the capability to lift heavier satellites to space, the cabinet also cleared the development of a reusable NGLV with a total fund of Rs 8,240 crore.
After successful missions to the Moon and Mars, India is now set to explore Venus, with the cabinet also approving the development of the Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM) that will explore the Earth's sister planet. The cabinet, just after the completion of 100 days of Modi Govt 3.0, also cleared the development of a reusable next-generation launch vehicle (NGLV) 'Soorya rocket' that will have three times the present payload lifting capability - from 10 tonnes to 30 tonnes - to the low earth orbit (LEO), I&B minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. TOI was first to report about the development of 'Soorya' and Chandrayaan-4 mission.
Isro chairman S Somanath said, "Chandrayaan-4 mission is primarily targeted to go to Moon and come back. Doing it at low cost is the highlight of the mission. To send a man to the Moon by 2040, we need to gather the technology, have confidence on it. Right now, we don't have it. So, we have to go step by step."
"The fourth Moon mission is "planned for Rs 2,104 crore". The Chandrayaan-4 mission is expected to be "completed within 36 months of approval", the cabinet statement said.
Cabinet on Wednesday approved the development of the first module of BAS. It also revised the Gaganyaan programme to include the scope of development and precursor missions for BAS, and factored an additional un-crewed mission.
VOM, expected to launch in March 2028, will help unravel the "Venusian atmosphere, geology and generate large amounts of science data probing into its thick atmosphere", the statement said. The Cabinet has "approved a fund of Rs 1,236 crore for the VOM, of which Rs 824 crore will be spent on the spacecraft".
To increase the capability to lift heavier satellites to space, the cabinet also cleared the development of a reusable NGLV with a total fund of Rs 8,240 crore.
