India aims to establish its own space station by 2035: Anurag Singh Thakur

Shimla, Aug 23 (PTI) Former Union Minister and Hamirpur MP Anurag Singh Thakur on Saturday said that India aims to establish its own space station by 2035 and achieve the target of an Indian-crewed lunar landing by 2040.

Interacting with students at the PM Shri Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Una on National Space Day, Thakur highlighted India's growing strides in the space sector.

"Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has made a big leap in space sector. On this very day in 2023, our country achieved success in the Chandrayaan Mission 3. On this day, India became the fourth country to land on Moon and the first country to land near the Moon's southern pole, joining the group of leading space nations," he said.

The MP said this was the result of tireless work by the country's great and diligent scientists. "Behind those scientists, Prime Minister Modi stands firmly as a visionary leader who embraces them during mission failures and pats their backs on successes," he said.

"In 2014, the Modi-led government decided to unlock India's space sector, and today the world is talking about our space economy, which is set to grow from USD 8 billion to USD 44 billion in the next few years. In 2013-14, India's space budget was Rs 5,615 crore, which has now increased to Rs 13,416 crore," said Thakur.

He added that India will need at least 40 to 50 astronauts for its space missions in the coming decades.

"In the last 10 years, India has done a lot of work in the space sector. Under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, our solar mission Aditya L1 was launched. Earlier, we had to seek help from foreign countries to launch our satellites, but now foreign nations seek help from us," the MP said.

"Our scientists have built the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, with whose help ISRO has successfully launched 400 foreign satellites so far. India launched 104 satellites together in one flight, and we launched the first private rocket Vikram S, creating a new record. Last year, India successfully completed the space docking experiment. We have started testing the Reusable Launch Vehicle," Thakur said, adding that the Central government has approved a budget of Rs 20,193 crore for the Gaganyaan project. PTI COR RUK RUK