ISRO's Future Horizons: Gaganyaan, Shukrayaan & Beyond
With significant achievements in lunar and solar missions, ISRO is now gearing up for human spaceflight, returning to Venus, and building India's very own space station.
Gaganyaan: The Human Spaceflight Programme
The crown jewel of ISRO's immediate future. The Gaganyaan project aims to demonstrate human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bringing them safely back to Earth, by landing in Indian sea waters. The programme entails developing critical technologies like human-rated launch vehicles (LVM3), life support systems, crew escape systems, and crew management parameters.
Crew Module (CM)
A twin-walled habitat with a life support system to provide earth-like environments in space.
Service Module (SM)
An unpressurized structure containing thermal control, power systems, and propulsion units.
Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS)
Building on the capabilities of Gaganyaan, India plans to set up its own space station by 2035. The Bharatiya Antariksha Station will weigh around 20 tonnes and will serve as an orbital laboratory allowing astronauts to stay for 15-20 days. This sets the crucial stepping stone for India's long-term goal of sending an Indian to the Moon by 2040.
Shukrayaan (Venus Orbiter Mission)
While Mars has captured much public interest globally, Venus represents a critical scientific target due to its extreme greenhouse effect. Shukrayaan-1 will be a proposed orbiter to Venus to study its surface and atmosphere. Equipped with ground-penetrating radar, the probe is expected to examine active volcanic hotspots and provide deep insights into the planet’s dense, acidic clouds starting roughly around 2028-2030 depending on launch windows.
The Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV)
To maintain cost-effectiveness while expanding launch capacity, ISRO is developing the re-usable NGLV (SOORYA). It is intended to have a payload capability of 10-20 to 30 tonnes to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), significantly higher than the current capabilities of the LVM3, and will be essential for the construction of the Bharatiya Antariksha Station.