Overview

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged industry to scale to 50 launches a year within five years and said the first private PSLV and a privately built communication satellite are coming soon.
• ISRO chairman V. Narayanan announced Chandrayaan-4 and a Venus orbiter, outlined the Bharatiya Antariksh Station with a first module by 2028 and set a lunar sample return goal by 2040.
• Union minister Jitendra Singh confirmed the uncrewed Gaganyaan-1 mission carrying humanoid Vyommitra by the end of 2025, followed by India’s first human spaceflight targeted for 2027.
• Officials said India will create a broader astronaut pool that includes women and civilians rather than limiting selection to Air Force personnel.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh feted the four Gaganyaan astronauts as Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla returned from the Axiom-4 ISS mission, with lessons expected to feed into India’s human-spaceflight programme.