ISRO chairman unveils plans for space experiments, moon missions

Bengaluru: Indian astronauts, on a joint ISRO-NASA mission called Axiom-4 to the International Space Station, will conduct five space experiments, announced ISRO Chairman S Somanath on Saturday.

During an hour-long live Instagram session, Somanath mentioned that ahead of the Gaganyaan project, ISRO aims to launch an Indian Space Station by 2028 and have it fully operational by 2035.

Responding to a variety of questions from students, he explained that ISRO offers opportunities for students with innovative ideas to contribute to ongoing projects. He detailed funding mechanisms that allow students, educational institutions, and research establishments to collaborate with ISRO. Addressing a question about why humans have not yet visited the moon, he described such missions as “expensive” and emphasised the importance of developing reliable methods to safely return humans to Earth.

Somanath also outlined ISRO’s ambitious plans for a manned moon mission by 2040, facilitated by the development of the partially reusable Next-Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), which will enable lunar and beyond.

Many young attendees inquired about how to join the space agency. The ISRO chief advised that a strong foundation in science, particularly physics, during undergraduate and postgraduate studies at any state or central university, is crucial. He reassured that with science education available in regional languages besides English, language barriers should not deter aspiring students.