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BFF-37
INDIA-SPACE
India plans ‘very small’ space station after 2022
NEW DELHI, June 13, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – India plans to establish its own
“very small” space station in the next decade as the country gears up for a
first manned mission beyond earth.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K. Sivan said Thursday
that the ambitious project would follow a successful launch of a manned space
flight scheduled by 2022.
“Our space station is going to be very small… useful to carry out
experiments,” Sivan told reporters in New Delhi.
“We are not having a big plan of sending humans on tourism and other
things,” he added.
A space station is capable of hosting crew members for years on end, and
provides facilities for experiments and support vehicles to dock.
India’s first manned space mission — named Gaganyaan — is due to take
place by 2022, in time to commemorate 75 of years of the country’s
independence from Britain.
It will have two or three astronauts on a maximum seven-day mission.
The Indian announcement comes a day after the country unveiled an unmanned
moon lander expected to be launched on July 15 for a touchdown on the lunar
surface around September 6.
India successfully sent a first lunar mission to space in 2008, playing a
crucial role in the discovery of water molecules on the moon.
The country has made giant strides on its space journey in recent years
and has been a pioneer in low-cost technology.
It sent a mission to Mars in 2014 for just $74 million — a fraction of
the $671 million spent by the US space agency NASA.
ISRO also plans to send a mission to study the Sun in 2020, and to Venus
by 2023.
BSS/AFP/BZC/2045HRS