The prime minister’s announcement comes as the world’s most populous country prepares to conduct a key test flight for its first manned space mission on Saturday. Building on “the success” of its space initiatives, India “must now pursue new and ambitious goals, including creating the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (Indian Space Station) by 2035 and sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.” ” Mr Modi said on Tuesday in a statement released on Tuesday evening.
The leader asked Indian space agency officials to prepare “a series of missions” to the moon.
India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s virtually unexplored south pole in August and successfully launched a spacecraft to observe the sun’s outermost layers a month later. In 2014, India became the first Asian country to put a satellite into orbit around Mars, and its space agency launched 104 satellites in a single mission in 2017.
India is currently focusing on its first manned mission to space, called Gaganyaan (spacecraft). The three-day mission, expected to take place next year, aims to send three crew members into Earth orbit at a cost of just over $1 billion, according to the national agency.
The country also plans to launch a probe to the moon, another to Mars and an orbital mission to Venus in the next two years in collaboration with Japan.
India has managed to compete with the established space powers despite having a much more modest budget. Experts say the company is able to keep costs down by copying and adapting existing technology, as well as by employing a host of highly skilled engineers who earn a fraction of the salaries of their global counterparts.