New Targets : ISRO Chairman V Narayanan Says Busiest Times Ahead With Seven More Launches Planned In The Financial Year

Picture Credit : @isro/X

Indian Space Research Organisation is gearing up for one of its busiest times with seven more launches planned this financial year, even as India’s first human spaceflight remains scheduled for 2027, its chairman V Narayanan said.

In an interview with PTI, he said ISRO is preparing for a phase of rapid scaling in science, technology and industry capacity.

Narayanan said ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is targeting seven more launches before the end of the current financial year, including a commercial communication satellite, and multiple PSLV and GSLV missions. A milestone will be the launch of the first PSLV manufactured entirely by the Indian industry.

The ISRO chief said the government has approved the Chandrayaan-4 mission, designed as a lunar sample-return mission and it will be India’s most complex lunar endeavour yet.

“We are targeting 2028 for Chandrayaan-4,” he said.

Another key mission is LUPEX, the joint lunar polar exploration programme with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).

ISRO is simultaneously working to triple its annual spacecraft production in the next three years to keep pace with expanding mission demand.

Chandrayaan-4 will attempt to bring back samples from the moon — a capability currently demonstrated only by the US, Russia and China.