File picture of ISRO Chairman S. Somanath addressing the media.
| Photo Credit: PTI
ISRO chairman S Somanath on Tuesday (August 20, 2024) said the space agency has completed the design for the next round of moon missions — Chandrayaan 4 and 5 — and is in the process of seeking government approval for the same.
The Chandrayaan-4 mission includes bringing back moon rocks and soil to earth after a soft landing on the lunar surface, launching a spacecraft from the moon, demonstrating a space docking experiment in lunar orbit and getting the samples back to earth.
“We have a series of missions to go to the moon. Chandrayaan-3 is over. Now, design for Chandrayaan 4 and 5 has been completed and we are seeking approval of the government,” Mr. Somanath told reporters here on the sidelines of an event organized by the All India Council for Technical Education and Indian Space Association.
Earlier, ISRO officials said that the targeted launch for Chandrayaan-4 mission was 2028.
Mr. Somanath also said that the space agency was planning to launch 70 satellites over the next five years, including a constellation of low earth orbit satellites to meet the requirements of different Ministries and departments of the government.
These 70 satellites include four for the NAVIC regional navigation system to provide positioning, navigation and time service, INSAT 4D weather satellites, the Resourcesat series of satellites, Cartosat satellites for remote sensing and high resolution imaging, he said.
Mr. Somanath said the space agency was also planning to develop the Oceansat series of satellites and technology demonstration satellites 01 and 02 to demonstrate electric propulsion systems, and quantum key distribution technologies.
The ISRO was also developing data relay satellites for the Gaganyaan mission, high throughput satellites for providing internet connectivity and GSAT satellite which was getting ready for shipping to the U.S. for launch on a Falcon rocket of SpaceX, he said.
Mr. Somanath said the space agency was also planning to launch a series of earth observation satellites over the next five years.
The ISRO chief said the mission to Venus, earlier being planned by the agency, has been put on the backburner.
“We are re-evaluating the mission,” he said.
Mr. Somanath said the first unmanned mission of the Gaganyaan project was scheduled for launch in December this year.
All the stages of the rocket have already reached the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, he said.
The Crew Module is getting ready at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram and the service module was under integration at the U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bangalore, Mr. Somanath said. The Crew Escape system has already reached Sriharikota.
“All systems are reaching Sriharikota in the next one to one-and-a-half month where final testing and integration will happen,” he said.
