New Delhi: India is working towards becoming self-reliant in the space sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.
“The nation is proud of our space sector. Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is back from the space station… In the days to come, he will return to India,” PM Modi said in his Independence Day address to the nation from the Red Fort.
He said India is working on becoming self-reliant in the space sector as well, and is preparing for the launch of Gaganyaan.
“We are making preparations for the Gaganyaan mission based on the principles of Atmanirbhar Bharat. We are working towards establishing our space station entirely through our own efforts. We have seen several space reforms recently. I am very proud to announce that over 300 startups are solely working in the space sector. Thousands of people in these startups are fully committed to this work. This is the power of Indians,” he added.
Indian Air Force pilot Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the second Indian to go to space returned from a 20-day stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on July 15. His journey was part of Axiom Mission 4, a private spaceflight collaboration involving NASA, SpaceX, ISRO, and Axiom Space.
Launched on June 25 aboard SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center, the Dragon capsule docked with the ISS on June 26. After carrying out various research activities, including microgravity experiments and life science demonstrations, the four-member crew began their return journey on July 14 and splashed down at 3 pm (Indian time) on July 15.
India reportedly paid Rs 548 crore for Shubhanshu’s seat on the mission — a significant investment in preparation for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission in 2027, which will mark the country’s first indigenous crewed spaceflight.
Gaganyaan is expected to launch in 2027, following multiple uncrewed test flights lined up in the coming year. The Rs 20,000 crore mission aims to send three astronauts into low Earth orbit and bring them safely back to Earth.
