India aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2040: Former ISRO chief

India is working towards landing its astronauts on the Moon by 2040, with a parallel plan to build its own space station by the same timeline, former Indian Space Research Organisation chief A S Kiran Kumar said on Wednesday.

"Between now and 2040 there are a whole lot of missions which are going to go into space activities. So, 2040 is a plan where we want to land Indians on the Moon and bring them back safely. India is also working towards building a space station by 2040," Kumar said while speaking at the inauguration of the fifth Astronomical Society of India (ASI) Symposium.

Kumar is currently the chairman of the management council of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL). Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the event held at the PRL campus, the former ISRO chairman outlined the near-term roadmap leading up to those long-term goals.

In the immediate future, he said, India will undertake a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan, while work is also underway with Japan on a lander and rover mission. "We should be trying to look for some specific information in the South Polar region (of the Moon). It will only be the beginning of a whole lot of activities beyond that. India as a country is committed to doing space observation and then understanding the universe," Kumar said.

He noted that the expanding mission pipeline would create opportunities beyond government agencies. "This will up open up a lot of opportunities for academic institutions, engineering institutions and even private companies to contribute to India's space exploration," he said.

Addressing scientists and students during the inaugural session, Kumar also reflected on the philosophical foundations of India's space programme, pointing out that its origins were distinct from those of many other space-faring nations.

India, he said, is the only country that began building space technology primarily for societal benefits rather than military purposes. He described the contribution of Vikram Sarabhai, the architect of India's space programme, as “phenomenal,” particularly given that the country was barely a decade past Independence at the time.

Sarabhai, Kumar said, explored how space technology could be used to improve broadcast communication and weather monitoring to provide facilities directly to citizens.

The three-day ASI Symposium focuses on the role of optics and advanced instrumentation in astronomy, space science, planetary science, atmospheric science, and emerging interdisciplinary areas, including quantum science and technologies.

(With inputs from PTI)