ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan | Photo credit: PTI
In an interview with PTI, he said ISRO is preparing for a phase of rapid scale-up in science, technology and industrial capacity.
Narayanan said ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is targeting seven more launches before the end of the current financial year, including a commercial communications satellite and multiple PSLV and GSLV missions. A milestone will be the launch of the first PSLV manufactured entirely by Indian industry.
The ISRO chief said the government has approved the Chandrayaan-4 mission, designed as a lunar sample return mission, and it will be India’s most complex moon project yet.
“We are targeting 2028 for Chandrayaan-4,” he said.
Another important mission is LUPEX, the joint lunar polar exploration program with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).
ISRO is simultaneously working to triple its annual spacecraft production over the next three years to keep pace with the growing demand for missions.
Chandrayaan-4 will attempt to bring back samples from the moon – a capability currently only being demonstrated by the US, Russia and China.
LUPEX wants to study water ice at the moon’s south pole.
Narayanan said ISRO has started construction of an Indian space station, to be completed by 2035.
“The first of the five modules will be launched into orbit in 2028,” he said.
The endeavor would make India the third major country to operate a space station, as the US-led ISS nears its end and China’s Tiangong becomes fully operational.
Speaking on India’s first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, Narayanan clarified that only the timetable for unmanned missions has been pushed back.
“Let me make it clear: the unmanned mission was intended for 2025. The manned mission was always planned for 2027, and we are sticking to that date,” he said.
Three unmanned test missions will precede the first flight with Indian astronauts.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also directed ISRO to send Indian astronauts to the moon’s surface and bring them back safely by 2040.
India’s long-term plan for human spaceflight now puts the country on par with the world’s leading space powers. The US is planning manned moon missions under Artemis, while China has set a 2030 target for its first manned moon landing.
India’s share in the global space economy is currently around 2 percent, and ISRO is working to increase this to 8 percent by 2030, Narayanan said.
India’s space economy is currently valued at about $8.2 billion and is expected to grow to $44 billion by 2033, while the global space economy, he said, is currently about $630 billion and could reach $1.8 trillion by 2035.
He said reforms in the space sector have greatly increased private participation.
Narayanan said there are now more than 450 industries and 330 startups operating in the Indian space ecosystem – a huge increase from just three startups a few years ago.
“We now have a vibrant grassroots ecosystem and it will continue to grow,” he said.
India’s private space industry accelerated post-regulatory reforms in 2020, enabling private rocket development, satellite manufacturing and commercial launch services.
Published on November 16, 2025
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