In January, India deployed its first dedicated solar mission, Aditya-L1, in Halo orbit (File)

Somnath, head of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), said that the next part of the “Chandrayaan” program is being developed, which will advance India’s lunar exploration.

He said that Chandrayaan-4 is the first step towards India’s goal of landing astronauts on the moon in 2040.

Speaking at a press conference, S Somnath said: “Chandrayaan-4 is a concept that we are developing now as a continuation of the Chandrayaan series… Our honorable Prime Minister has announced that Indians will land on the moon in 2040. So, If this has to happen, we have to have continued lunar exploration of all types.”

“Chandrayaan-4 is the first step in this direction…to land a spacecraft on the moon and collect samples and bring them back to Earth. It shows the complete cycle of going to the moon and back to Earth,” he added.

S Somnath further said that ISRO is working on many other projects ranging from rocket and satellite projects to technology development projects.

“There are many. We have major projects, rocket projects, satellite projects, application projects and technology development projects. There are about 5-10 rocket projects, about 30-40 satellite projects, and more than 100 application projects. There are thousands more R&D projects,” he added.

On August 23, the Chandrayaan-3 lander successfully landed on the south pole of the moon. India made a huge leap and became the first country to achieve this historic feat.

In January, India placed its first dedicated solar mission, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, into Halo orbit.

Project Gaganyaan is another major mission for India that envisages demonstrating manned space capabilities by launching three astronauts into an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bringing them back safely to Earth by landing in Indian waters.

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