According to ISRO chairman V Narayanan, the Indian Space Research Organization is preparing the Gaganyaan mission for 2027 and hopes to follow it up with crewed Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5 flights by 2028. This indicates that India’s human spaceflight program is at a critical stage. Regarding the roadmap, Narayanan stated that before astronauts are launched into space, the Gaganyaan program will involve three uncrewed trips. “We are working on the Gaganyaan initiative, which is aimed for 2027, under the visionary leadership of PM Modi. We are working toward three uncrewed missions that are scheduled to take place,” he stated.
Although the first unmanned launch date has not yet been set, Narayanan stated that preparations were moving along smoothly. “We are working towards it, but the date is not yet finalized,” he continued. He affirmed that the crewed lunar missions Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5 had already been approved. He stated that “all activities are proceeding as per the targeted dates,” adding that “Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5 are approved programs, and if it goes as planned, as targeted, by 2028, it will happen.”
ISRO is focusing on developing reusable launch vehicle technology to reduce costs, currently at an experimental stage, said Narayanan. He emphasized that India’s space programme is not about competing globally, but serving national interests. ISRO aims to grow India’s space economy from 2% to 8% under the Prime Minister’s vision. Narayanan also dismissed the notion of setbacks, calling ongoing technical reviews and PSLV data analysis part of the learning process.
