ISRO Chief updates on Chandrayaan 4,5 design and satellite launches.

The Chandrayaan-4 mission is aimed at bringing back moon rocks and soil to earth after a soft landing on the lunar surface. This includes launching a spacecraft from the moon, demonstrating a space docking experiment in lunar orbit, and returning the samples to earth. With Chandrayaan-3 completed, ISRO officials had initially targeted the launch for Chandrayaan-4 in 2028. Additionally, the space agency plans to launch 70 satellites over the next five years to meet the needs of various government ministries and departments.

These satellites will include those for the NAVIC regional navigation system, INSAT 4D weather satellites, Resourcesat series, and Cartosat satellites for remote sensing and high-resolution imaging. Furthermore, ISRO aims to develop the Oceansat series and technology demonstration satellites to showcase electric propulsion systems and quantum key distribution technologies. The agency is also working on data relay satellites for the Gaganyaan mission, high throughput satellites for internet connectivity, and the GSAT satellite scheduled for launch on a Falcon rocket of SpaceX. The mission to Venus, previously planned by the agency, has been put on hold as it is being re-evaluated.

Meanwhile, the first unmanned mission of the Gaganyaan project is scheduled for launch in December, with all rocket stages already at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The Crew Module is being prepared at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, and the service module is undergoing integration at the U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bangalore. The Crew Escape system has also reached Sriharikota, with final testing and integration to follow within the next one to one-and-a-half months.