India has completed a successful lunar mission, sent a probe to study the solar wind, and in a few days will conduct the first test of a program that will eventually send humans into space. The most ambitious project is to send people to the moon in 2040, but for this India has to complete a number of difficult steps.

India is famous for its space program, in which missions cost several times less than NASA, this Asian country has brilliant engineers who find reliable low-cost solutions to complex problems.

• How India managed to send a probe and a rover to the moon at the cost of two kilometers of mountain road in Romania

India wants to continue the space program and is ready to spend more and more and set goals higher. Prime Minister Narendra Modi proudly announced that India should send men to the moon by 2040 and have a space station by 2035. He also said that missions to two planets would be prepared: a probe to Venus and a lander (landing module) to reach the surface of Mars.

This will require not only a large investment, but also a lot of testing. PM Modi asked ISRO to prepare a clear timeline with steps and deadlines, a “road map” to the Moon 2040 target.

What are the steps? First, India will conduct a key test on October 21 in preparation for the mission, which aims to launch three astronauts into orbit and return them safely in 2024 or 2025. The Gaganyaan mission will be the most expensive in the history of the Indian space program with a budget of one billion dollars.

A test “robot astronaut” named Vyommitra will be sent into space in 2024, and astronauts should be sent into space by the end of 2024. It has not yet been decided whether the capsule will carry two or three astronauts on its first manned mission.

The manned mission will last three days, and the astronauts will move in orbit at an altitude of 400 km. As part of this program, 20 large test missions are planned. If all goes well, a manned trip to the moon will be even closer to reality.

If the Gaganyaan program goes well, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will have to work on new space modules and capsules, a new space center and training facilities for future Indian astronauts. Some will also undergo training in the USA, at NASA, with signed partners.

It is clear that more powerful and highly effective missiles will have to be developed, and there will probably be cooperation with the Americans and/or the Japanese.

India wants to have its own space station in orbit no later than 2035: the Bharatiya Antariksha Station. This would require another “set” of missions to complete without major disruption.

The key to success will be the use of solutions developed by the Indian private sector, which was co-opted into the space program three years ago and will penetrate new and new segments of it.

India, with its tradition of technical universities, has many startups developing launch vehicles for various types of satellites, as well as developing smaller and more powerful sensors. And here is an ingenious way to reduce costs as much as possible, as well as to bring perfectly functional products to the market.

Sources: Reuters, TechCrunch, India Tribune