NEW DELHI: The Chandrayaan-4 lunar sample-return mission, which recently received the Centre’s approval, is likely to be launched in 2028, Isro chairman V Narayanan has said. Isro is set to launch seven more satellites, including the liftoff of a PSLV rocket made entirely by the industry in the current financial year.The Isro chief said the Chandrayaan-4 mission will be India’s most complex lunar endeavour yet. “We are targeting 2028 for Chandrayaan-4,” he said. Chandrayaan-4 is also called LUPEX (Lunar Polar Exploration Mission) and is a joint programme between Isro and Japan’s space agency Jaxa. The LUPEX project is aimed at exploring the Moon for water and other resources and gaining expertise in exploring the surface of the Moon. “Acquiring technologies needed for rovers and landers to operate in the harsh lunar environment is very important for pursuing space exploration,” said Jaxa.Narayanan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed Isro to work towards sending Indian astronauts to the lunar surface and bringing them back safely by 2040. India’s planning for a manned lunar mission comes against the backdrop of the US gearing up to send crewed missions to the Moon under the Artemis programme, most probably next year, and China setting a 2030 target for its first crewed landing on the Moon. On the Gaganyaan mission, Narayanan said only the timeframe for uncrewed missions has been shifted, and there is no change in the manned mission schedule. “The uncrewed mission was targeted for 2025. The crewed mission was always planned for 2027, and we are holding on to that date,” he said.Narayanan said Isro has also begun work on Bharatiya Antariksha Station, targeted for completion by 2035. “The first of the five modules will be placed in orbit by 2028,” he said. The mission, if successful, will make India the third country to operate a space station — the US-led multi-country station ISS is nearing the end of life and will be deorbited in year 2030 and China’s Tiangong station is moving into full gear.
