During the first-ever National Space Day celebration on 23 August, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr. Jitendra Singh announced that an Indian will land on the surface of Moon, fifteen years from now, in the year 2040.
Key points
- Dr. Jitendra Singh outlined the Space Vision 2047, which includes the commissioning of the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS) by 2035 and Indian astronauts landing on the Moon by 2040.
- Dr Jitendra Singh highlighted the historic landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon’s South Pole, a feat that astonished the world and established India as a leader in space exploration.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Minister recalled, had announced that August 23rd, 2023 would be celebrated nationwide as National Space Day, and the landing site of Chandrayaan-3 would be named ‘Shiv Shakti Point.’
- He emphasized the significant progress made in the past decade, including the successful Mars Orbiter Mission, the launch of AstroSat, Chandrayaan-2, and Chandrayaan-3, the upcoming Aditya-L1 solar mission, and the XPoSat, an X-Ray astronomy mission.
- Dr. Jitendra Singh traced India’s Space journey beginning only 55 years back in 1969 when the US astronaut Neil Armstrong had already set his foot on the Moon.
- He echoed the Finance Minister’s projection that India’s space economy will grow from $8 billion to $44 billion in the next decade.
