ISRO Plans To Launch Chandrayaan-4 In The Coming 4 Years To Retrieve Samples From The Moon

According to ISRO chairperson S Somanath, Chandrayaan-4 is scheduled to return samples from the Moon in four years. The space agency’s vision 2047 was also being discussed during the launch.

According to him, ISRO plans to launch its first module before constructing the space station by 2028. Previously, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called on the space agency to set up an astronautate by 2035 and send one man back into orbit in 2040.

His statement emphasized the importance of developing technologies such as robotic arms for sample collection, docking mechanisms in Moon and Earth orbits, sample transfer, and reentry into the atmosphere without burning up. This will be demonstrated by the Gaganyaan mission to send astronauts to low Earth orbit and bring them back to earth.

And while the ISRO recently demonstrated a trajectory to bring back a spacecraft from the Moon to Earth orbit using left-over fuel in the propulsion module, for a sample return mission the ascender module will have to collect the samples, come back to an orbit around the moon, and dock with another craft and transfer the sample, before it starts its journey back to Earth.

The space economy alone is not enough for India, as it only accounts for 1.68 per cent of GDP today. As per Somanath’s statement, if one wants to be considered a “Viksit Bharat” by 2047, they must have a substantial share of space-based business, which includes the production of satellites, application development, ground infrastructure, and ventures out of space.

The key challenge he is facing now is to build an extremely active industrial base for space activity, which has not been possible before.

It will need to dock with another module that will bring the spacecraft into Earth orbit. The spacecraft’s samples from the Moon will be subjected to a splashdown with parachutes in the sea, similar to the Gaganyaan mission.

On August 23, the Lander Module (LM) of ISRO’s third moon mission Chandrayaan-3 made history by being the first to reach the uncharted south pole of the only natural satellite in the world, making India the fourth country to do so.

For the purpose of ensuring the continued presence of Indians in space, ISRO is developing an inflatable habitat module that astronauts can walk around and conduct experiments, as stated by Somanath.

There are several technologies that ISRO is working on, including satellites with the ability to refuel other satellites in space and robotic arms for module maintenance and replacement.