In which year does ISRO plan to launch the first base module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station?

Question

In which year does ISRO plan to launch the first base module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station?

1. A. 2032
2. B. 2030
3. C. 2029
4. D. 2028 (Correct answer)

Correct Answer

Option D — 2028

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is 2028.

Key Points

• ISRO plans to launch the first base module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) in 2028.
• The station is to be built in stages, with BAS-1 as the first module, and the full station targeted for completion around 2035.
• It will orbit at roughly 400 km altitude and is intended to host astronauts for short-duration stays, supporting microgravity research.

Additional Information

• India's stated long-term space goals, announced in 2023, are a space station by 2035 and an Indian astronaut on the Moon by 2040.
• Gaganyaan is the prerequisite programme — India's first human spaceflight mission, intended to carry a crew to low-Earth orbit and return them safely. Uncrewed test flights and the TV-D1 crew escape system test (October 2023) preceded it.
• SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment), launched on 30 December 2024, demonstrated autonomous docking and undocking of two small spacecraft — a capability without which a multi-module space station cannot be assembled. India became the fourth country to achieve it, after the USA, Russia and China.
• Other recent milestones: Chandrayaan-3 achieved the first soft landing near the lunar south pole in August 2023; Aditya-L1 was placed in a halo orbit around the Sun–Earth L1 point in January 2024.
• The International Space Station, by comparison, orbits at about 400 km and has been continuously occupied since 2000; it is expected to be deorbited around 2030, which is part of why several nations are planning their own stations.