New Delhi, Sept 18: In a big boost to India's space programme, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Chandrayan-4 mission and also gave a green signal for the building of the first unit of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) by 2028.
The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved Chandrayaan-4 to develop and demonstrate technologies to help astronauts return to Earth after successfully landing on the moon.
The Chandrayaan-4 mission is “planned for Rs 2,104.06 crore”, and the development of the spacecraft and its launch will be handled by ISRO. The Cabinet said the “cost includes spacecraft development and realisation, two launch vehicle missions of LVM3, external deep space network support and conducting special tests for design validation, finally leading to the mission of landing on the Moon’s surface and safe return to Earth along with the collected lunar sample.”
The mission is expected to be “completed within 36 months of approval”, the Cabinet said. Meanwhile, expanding the vision for the Indian space programme, the government had envisaged an Indian Space Station by 2035 and an Indian to land on the lunar surface by 2040. Towards this goal, the Cabinet on Wednesday approved the development of the first module of BAS-1.
