India to put space station in orbit by 2030: Dr Jitendra Singh tells Rajya Sabha

Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh told Rajya Sabha that India will set up a space station by 2030. He added that a renewed focus on roping in private industries and indigenous startups will help accelerate India's space ambitions.

New Delhi:India will set up a space station by 2030, said Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for the Ministry of Science and Technology, in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Replying to a question in the Upper House regarding the upcoming Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) projects, Singh said a renewed focus on roping in private industries and indigenous startups will help accelerate India's space ambitions.

The MoS informed the house that ISRO has planned two unmanned missions in 2022 and a robot-assisted mission - Vyommitra - by the end of 2022. He added that Mission Vyommitra will be a prelude to the ambitious Gaganyaan programme of ISRO, which aims to launch a manned mission to space.

"It will place India as a frontline nation and larger scale of global partnership. It will inspire youngsters and startups. Achievements in the space sector have already placed India as a frontline nation," he said.

Singh said that a 'Venus Mission' is in the pipeline for ISRO. He announced that the 'Aaditya Solar' mission will be launched in 2023 and the next Chandrayaan mission in 2022.

Jitendra Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Unlocking' of the space has been able to fetch a number of partners for India in the sector. "There are nano satellite developers working in collaboration with ISRO," he said.

Explaining the scope of Gaganyaan, the MoS said that the space programme will also delve into health research, spin-off technologies and other innovation-led researches.

"Most distinctly it will involve industry in a big way," he said.

Replying to a question by Congress leader Anand Sharma, Singh said that India's historic launch that put 100 satellites, a number of which foreign satellites, generated revenue worth 56 million dollars.

However, Singh noted that there was no participation of indigenous private industries in the 2008 launch.