ISRO Chief Somanath unveils plans for Chandrayaan-4 moon mission in 2040
ISRO Chief S Somnath talks about India's advancements in space exploration and outlines the future Chandrayaan-4 mission, which aims to land an astronaut on the moon by 2040.
The chairman of ISRO, S Somanath while addressing a press conference on Tuesday, said that “Chandrayaan-4 is a concept that we are now developing as a continuation of the Chandrayaan series. Our Prime Minister has announced that an Indian will land on the Moon in 2040, if that has to happen, we need to have a continuous Moon exploration of various kinds. Chandrayaan-4 is a first step towards that to send a craft to Moon and collect sample and bring it back to earth.”
He also added that “Chandrayaan-4 demonstrates the full cycle of lunar exploration by landing a spacecraft on moon, gathering samples and safely returning them to earth.”
Chandrayaan-4 is continuation of the Chandrayaan series. India became the fourth country to accomplish a soft landing on the Moon’s south pole with the successful completion of Chandrayaan-3, which was launched in July 2023.
India achieved a historic first with this mission, showcasing its technological expertise in lunar exploration. It accomplished the successful rover deployment and made several scientific observations.
India’s first human spaceflight mission is the Gaganyaan project of ISRO. It intends to launch a three-person crew into a 400-kilometer orbit for three days, with a safe splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The four astronauts selected for the mission (Prashanth Nair, Angad Prathap, Ajit Krishnan, and Shubhanshu Shukla) were named by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 26. They are going through training right now for this historic flight.
