India’s next giant leap: Space station of its own by 2035

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has begun work on the country’s own space station, with the final design receiving approval from a high-level review committee. Construction of the station’s components has now commenced. Union Minister Jitendra Singh informed the Rajya Sabha of this on Friday.

The components will be manufactured at various ISRO centres. The space station will consist of five modules, which will be launched in parts and assembled in space. The station is expected to be completed by 2035, making India one of the countries with its own space station.

At present, the International Space Station (ISS), a joint project of five space agencies, and China’s Tiangong space station are operational.

The idea of establishing India’s own space station was initiated in 2019. A model of the proposed station was displayed in Delhi during the celebrations of Space Day last year. The final design was approved after taking into account the recommendations of the review committee. The Union government approved the project, including its financial outlay, in 2024.

Cost: ₹20,193 crore

• The Indian space station has been designed as a laboratory consisting of five modules, orbiting Earth at an altitude of 400 to 450 km.
• The first module will be launched in 2028. It will weigh 10 tonnes and cost ₹1,763 crore.
• The Bharatiya Antariksh Station will have a total mass of 52 tonnes, with the overall project cost estimated at ₹20,193 crore.

To be built using indigenous technology

Indigenous space technologies developed for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission will also be used in constructing the space station.

These include the human-rated launch vehicle HLV-M3; the crew escape system; infrastructure including ground control systems; flight operations systems; space communication systems; crew recovery systems for rescuing astronauts in emergency situations; in-space refuelling facilities; and docking systems for assembling the station’s components in space, as demonstrated through the SpaDeX experiment.

The space station project will also make use of technologies including space flight suits and crew seats. In all, 31 technological achievements developed through India’s human spaceflight programme will be utilised.