India planning to have own space station: ISRO
   Date :14-Jun-2019

 
 
NEW DELHI:
 
ISRO chief K Sivan announced that India will launch another mission to the Sun by launching Aditya-L1 in the first half of 2020, adding that India will not join the International Space Station (ISS). 
 
INDIA is planning to launch its own space station, ISRO chief K Sivan announced on Thursday about this ambitious project which will enable the agency to send more humans to space when executed. He also said India will not join the International Space Station (ISS). After Chandrayaan Mission 2, also known as Moon Mission 2, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch another mission to the Sun by launching Aditya-L1 in the first half of 2020, Sivan said.
 
 
 
 
Another interplanetary mission to Venus will be launched in the next 2-3 years, Sivan, who is also the Secretary, Department of Space, said. Elucidating on the space station project, Sivan said the mission will also be an extension of the Gaganyaan project. “We have to sustain the Gaganyaan programme. So, subsequently, as a long-term plan, we are planning to have the space station in India. We are going to join the international community in manned missions to moon, asteroids. We have a clear plan for the space programme,” Sivan said. “We are planning to have a separate space station. We will not be a part of ... (ISS). Our space station is going to be very small.
 
We will be launching a small module and that will be used for carrying out microgravity experiments,” Sivan told reporters. The weight of the space station is likely to be 20 tonnes. By planning a space station, the ISRO is “not thinking of space tourism”, he said. Sivan said the proposal will be sent to the Government for approval after the first Gaganyaan mission by 2022 and it is looking at 5-7 years time frame for execution of the programme. He did not elaborate the cost of the proposed Indian space station.
 
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting crew members, designed to remain in space for an extended period of time and for other spacecraft to dock. Currently, there is only one fully functional space station in the Earth’s lower orbit, the International Space Station and astronauts conduct different experiments in it.