India celebrates its Maiden National Space Day (NSD) on 23rd August, 2024 to commemorate the historic landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon.
About National Space Day
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- Chandrayaan-3 mission accomplished safe and soft-landing of Vikram Lander on the lunar surface on August 23, 2023.
- With this, India became the fourth country to land on the moon and first to land near the southern polar region of the moon.
- The soft-landing was followed by successful deployment of Pragyan Rover. The landing site was named as ‘Shiv Shakti’ point (Statio Shiv Shakti).
- Theme: Touching Lives while Touching the Moon:India’s Space Saga.
- India is the 8th largest space economy (in terms of funding) in the world.
| Key Future Missions | |
| Mission | Detail |
| Chandrayaan-4 | It will bring rock and soil samples back to the Earth. |
| Gaganyaan Mission | Envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching crew of 3
members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3 days mission and bring them back safely to earth. |
| Venus Orbiter Mission(Shukrayaan) | An orbiter mission to study the atmosphere of Venus. |
| Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (Mangalyaan 2) | India’s second interplanetary mission to Mars is primarily an orbiter mission. |
| Lunar Polar Exploration Mission(LUPEX) | A concept mission in collaboration with JAXA to explore the Moon’s South Pole region. |
| Bharatiya Antariksha
Station (2028-2035) |
A planned space station that would weigh 20 tonnes and maintain an orbit approximately 400 kilometres above Earth, where astronauts could stay for 15—20 days. |
