New Delhi: After a stellar year of achievements in 2023, including a Moon landing and a Sun observatory launch, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) aims to surpass its own records with a plan to conduct at least 12 launches in 2024, as stated by Chairman S Somanath on Monday.
The announcement came after the successful launch of India’s first polarimetry mission, the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite, designed to study celestial objects like black holes. Somanath mentioned at a media briefing, “We are planning at least 12 missions for 2024. It may also go up depending on our ability to produce the hardware and complete testing.”
In 2023, ISRO achieved a record of seven missions, including the landing of Chandrayaan-3 near the lunar south pole and the launch of India’s first sun observatory, Aditya-L1. The space agency also conducted key technology demonstrations for the Gaganyaan spacecraft and a reusable launch vehicle.
Somanath highlighted that 2024 would be the “year for Gaganyaan.” He stated, “2024 is going to be a year to prepare for Gaganyaan. We are targeting the launch for 2025, but this year we will be conducting at least two more rounds of tests before gearing up for the final mission.”
The Gaganyaan mission, India’s maiden human space flight, is set to carry three astronauts to an orbit 400km above the Earth’s surface for a three-day mission. This ambitious project involves extensive testing, including a test flight with a humanoid robot named Vyomitra and an unmanned flight before the manned Gaganyaan mission, potentially scheduled for 2025.
ISRO’s agenda for Gaganyaan includes developing critical technologies such as a human-rated launch vehicle, life support systems, and an emergency escape system. The year 2023 saw ISRO conducting recovery trials of the crew module and testing the Gaganyaan service module propulsion system.
