ISRO aims to launch first module of Indian space station by 2028, says chief Somanath: Reports

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Indian Express report, Somanath said on Friday that it is targeting to launch the first module for the space station, called 'Bharatiya Space Station', by 2028. "By 2028, we will launch the first module, that is the target. In another seven years, that is by 2035, we will build further modules and make the space station fully operational," the ISRO chief said.

He added that the ISRO is developing a launch vehicle to carry heavier loads to have the space station ready by 2035. "This is because, for the 2028 launch (of the first module), we do not have a powerful rocket. We have a rocket called LVM-3, which can only take 10 tonnes, so the first module will be an eight-tonne mass module, which we will launch by 2028," Somanath was quoted as saying.

ALSO READ: ISRO's Aditya-L1 begins collecting scientific data on Solar exploration efforts The ISRO chief said a new rocket is being developed, which will be able to “carry a load of 20 of 1,215 tonnes" because "they cannot be launched in the current rocket (which can only take 10 tonnes)." Somanath said the Indian space organisation will seek approval for it and it will take about seven years to develop it. "The 2028 launch will be a robotic module, a satellite, where we can dock, conduct experiments and come back. A human being going (to the space station) can happen only after 2035.

This is the plan as of today," he was quoted as saying. “By 2023, we should be able to send an ISS into space with human beings," he was quoted by the Times of India as saying. "A human being going (to the space station) can happen only after 2035.

This is the plan as of today," he reportedly said. Meanwhile, the ISRO announced a major update in India's first solar mission, Aditya-L1. The space