As part of India’s independence day speech on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that an “Indian astronaut, be it son or daughter, will go into space in Gaganyaan (space mission) by the year 2022.”
‘Gaganyaan’ would be the first manned space mission launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). And if India launches the mission, it will be the fourth nation to do so after the United States, Russia, and China.
PM has given target of 2022& it’s our duty to meet it. We are already on the job a&we have completed many technologies like crew module & escape systems. The project has been underway, now we need to prioritise &achieve the target: ISRO chairman K Sivan on Gaganyaan 2022 mission pic.twitter.com/2WD1ydJfkk
— ANI (@ANI) August 15, 2018
Previously, ISRO had launched its first lunar probe Chandrayaan-1 in October 2008 and operated it until August 2009. Its major achievement was the discovery of the widespread presence of water molecules in lunar soil. However, the mission, which was supposed to last for two years, was suspended in just 312 days. The scientists had claimed that the mission had achieved 95 percent of its goals before they lost touch with it.
On September 24, 2014, Mars probe Mangalyaan or the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was launched. While Chandrayaan-2 is all set to be launched in the January-March window of 2019.