The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, along with Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh and ISRO Chairperson, S Somanath took a walkthrough of exhibition showcased on the India’s First National Space Day - 2024 celebrations at Bharat Mandapam, in New Delhi on August 23. (PIB Photo)
India marks first-ever National Space Day
New Delhi, August 23 (MExN): An Indian will land on the surface of the Moon fifteen years from now, in 2040, declared Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology and MoS Department of Space, on Friday.
Dr Singh, who is also MoS (Independent Charge) for Earth Sciences, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, made the announcement addressing the first-ever National Space Day celebration at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi on August 23.
The day commemorates the historic landing of Chandrayaan-3's Vikram Lander on the Moon's South Pole on August 23, 2023, a remarkable achievement in India’s space exploration.
Following this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that August 23 would be celebrated nationwide annually as National Space Day, and the landing site would be named ‘Shiv Shakti Point.’
The theme for the inaugural celebration was "Touching Lives while Touching the Moon: India's Space Saga.”
Addressing the nation in the presence of President of India Droupadi Murmu, Dr Singh reflected on India’s achievements in space exploration and its ambitious future goals.
He noted that in the last six decades, the country has not only touched the lives of its citizens but also reached the Moon and highlighted significant progress made in the past decade, such as the successful Mars Orbiter Mission, the launch of AstroSat, Chandrayaan-2, and Chandrayaan-3, the upcoming Aditya-L1 solar mission, and the XPoSat, an X-Ray astronomy mission.
India’s space journey began only 55 years ago in 1969 when US astronaut Neil Armstrong had already set foot on the Moon, but India became the first nation to land on the Moon's South Pole, he emphasised.
He credited the policy support and leadership provided by PM Modi since 2014 for accelerating scientific missions and unlocking India’s potential.
The MoS also noted the significant increase in space start-ups, now numbering nearly 300, following the opening of the space sector to private participation and projected India’s space economy to grow from $8 billion to $44 billion in the next decade.
He also lauded PM for "unshackling" the space sector and making it more accessible to the public, citing over 5,000 spectators and nearly 1,000 media personnel at the Chandrayaan-3 launch live at Sriharikota as evidence.
Space Vision 2047
Looking ahead, Dr Singh outlined the Space Vision 2047, which includes the commissioning of the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS) by 2035 and Indian astronauts landing on the Moon by 2040.
He expressed confidence that the vision would result in scientific activities onboard an indigenous space station by 2040, leading to further lunar exploration and beyond.
Dr Singh also highlighted India’s end-to-end capabilities in space transportation, platforms, and ground stations as the key aspect of the country’s self-reliance in the space sector, stated a press release from the Department of Space via PIB.
He underscored the impact of space applications on sectors such as fisheries, agriculture, natural resource management, disaster management, and satellite communication, which have all benefited from India’s space advancements.
