The Cabinet has approved the Chandrayaan-4 mission. The aim of this mission is to land a spacecraft on the Moon, collect samples and bring them back safely to Earth.
The cabinet also approved the establishment of the Venus Orbiter Mission and the Indian Space Station (BAS). Both missions are planned to be launched by the year 2028.
1. Chandrayaan-4 Mission: In this Rs 2104 crore mission, moon rocks and soil will be brought back to Earth. Two different rockets will be used in the mission. Heavy-lifter LVM-3 and ISRO's reliable workhorse PSLV will carry different payloads.
Stack 1 includes the ascender module for lunar sample collection and the descender module for lunar sample collection on the surface. Stack 2 includes a propulsion module for thrust, a transfer module for sample hold, and a re-entry module to bring the samples back to Earth.
2. Venus Orbiter Mission: The mission is budgeted at Rs 1,236 crore and is scheduled to be launched in March 2028. The primary objective of VOM is to enhance our understanding of the surface and atmosphere of Venus as well as the effect of the Sun on Venus' atmosphere.
Venus is the closest planet to Earth. Venus has a lot of information that can help us understand Earth and exoplanets better.
3. Indian Space Station: The cabinet has also approved the development of the first module of the Indian Space Station (BAS-1) by expanding the scope of the Gaganyaan program. The revised Gaganyaan program includes eight missions, including the BAS-1 unit. It is to be completed by December 2028.
The total funding of the Gaganyaan program has been increased by Rs 11,170 crore to Rs 20,193 crore. In 'Gaganyaan', 3 Gaganyatris will be sent to the Earth's orbit 400 KM above for a 3-day mission. After this, the crew module will be landed safely in the sea.
If India succeeds in its mission, it will become the fourth country to do so. America, China and Russia have already done this before.
PM Modi announced the Gaganyaan mission in 2018 In the year 2018, PM Modi announced the Gaganyaan mission in his Independence Day speech. The mission was targeted to be completed by 2022. However, it was delayed due to the Covid pandemic. Now it is likely to be completed by the end of 2024 or early 2025. A budget of about Rs 90.23 billion has been allocated for the Gaganyaan mission.
Graphics Source: NavJivanIndia | VaskarAssets
