According to a new roadmap from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India plans to establish 3D-printed dwellings on Mars and launch precursor missions to land humans on the Red Planet within the next four decades.
The roadmap is the result of nationwide consultations conducted by the space agency, which concluded at the National Space Day celebrations last weekend.
Crew station on the Moon
By 2047, India aims to build a crew station on the Moon, mine for minerals and other resources, operate crewed lunar terrain vehicles, and establish propellant depots. These depots would fuel inter-planetary missions and support astronauts’ long-term stay on the Moon.
ISRO has also drawn up plans to significantly upgrade its launch vehicles, with a goal of carrying 150-tonne payloads to orbit in a single mission. At present, ISRO's GSLV Mark-III launch vehicle can haul payloads up to 4 tonnes to the geosynchronous transfer orbit and 8 tonnes to low Earth orbit (LEO).
Lunar Module Launch Vehicle
The space agency is currently developing the Lunar Module Launch Vehicle (LMLV) with a capacity to haul 80-tonne payloads to LEO and 27 tonnes to trans-lunar orbit. The LMLV is designed to be 119 meters in height—as tall as a 40-story building—and is expected to be ready by 2035. Last week, ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan stated that the LMLV would be used for lunar missions, including the first human mission to the Moon, which is planned for 2040.
Bharatiya Antariksha Station
In 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set targets for ISRO to build the Bharatiya Antariksha Station by 2035 and land an Indian astronaut on the Moon by 2040, signaling the government’s long-term commitment to the space sector. Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s recent commercial mission to the International Space Station and the planned Gaganyaan missions also underscore the government's intent to support sustained human spaceflight.
The prime minister has also tasked ISRO scientists with planning deep space exploration to uncover the universe's secrets for the benefit of humanity.
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