NEW DELHI: India is planning to launch its own space station and the ambitious project will be an extension of the Gaganyaan mission — India’s first manned mission into space, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Sivan said on Thursday.
“India will set up its separate space station in the next 5-7 years after Gangayaan is successfully completed in 2022,” Sivan told reporters in New Delhi, with a target of 2030. The space station will weigh around 20 tonnes. The space station will likely be used to conduct microgravity experiments, he added.
The ISRO chief said that the preliminary plan for the space station is to accommodate astronauts for up to 15-20 days in space, but more specific details will emerge after the Gaganyaan, is complete, he said.
No collaboration with any other country for this project is to be taken. The only countries that have had space stations so far are the US, Russia, China and a consortium of nations that own the International Space Station.
The ISRO is also planning to launch two other missions to study the Sun and Venus. The mission to the Sun, named Aditya-L1, would be launched in 2020 and the mission to Venus in mid-2023. (Agencies)
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