ISRO Chairman Narayanan said India is working towards setting up its own space station in space by 2035. He made the remarks while speaking at a convocation ceremony at a private management college in Mamallapuram near Chennai.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target for ISRO to launch around 300 satellites over the next five to six years. ISRO is also pursuing the long-term goal of establishing an Indian-owned space station by 2035.
Ahead of the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, an uncrewed test spacecraft is planned to be launched from Sriharikota within this year, he said. Narayanan noted that while India initially depended on other countries’ rockets and satellites, it has since launched 434 foreign satellites from 36 countries on Indian rockets on a commercial basis.
He also referred to the recent ‘Operation Sindoor’, stating that India used more than 20 satellites during the operation.
On the upcoming small satellite launch facility at Kulasekarapattinam in Thoothukudi district, he said the space regulator IN-SPACe has begun steps to hand over operations and management to an Indian private company for Rs 986 crore. The second launch site, spread over 2,233 acres, is being designed to support ISRO’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle as well as small rockets from private firms, with ISRO providing technical guidance, operational support and training for the first three commercial launches or up to one year.
