ISRO Starts Work on India’s Maiden Space Station

By R. Anil Kumar

• ISRO is working towards setting up India’s first space station, BharatiyaAntariksh Station, by 2035. The station will be assembled in a phased manner and a prospective roadmap is being created for the realisation of different modules and their launches.

• The Indian Orbital Space Station, officially called, Bharatiya Antariksha Station (‘Indian Space Station’), is a planned modular space station to be constructed by India and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

• According to initial estimates, the space station could weigh about 20 tonnes. It would be made of solid structures, but inflatable modules could be added.

• The final version could well go to about 400 tonnes. One end of the space station will be a docking port for the crew module and rocket that will ferry astronauts.

• ISRO chief S Somanath says the first modules of the space station may be launched in the next few years

Bangalore, March 4. As we all know by now, India has its eye on the goal of setting up the ‘BharatiyaAntariksha Station’ (BAS) by 2035, and sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040. The prospect of India having its own space station has ignited imaginations worldwide. ISRO’s unique outpost in space promises to unlock new frontiers in scientific exploration, from conducting ground-breaking experiments to gaining insights into the long-term effects of space travel on humans. Let’s delve into what we know so far about the station’s design and current progress.

As part of India’s ambitious plans in space, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has started work on setting up the country’s maiden space station at the earliest. ISRO chief S Somanath says the first modules of the space station may be launched in the next few years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set an ambitious goal for ISRO — India’s own space station, up and running by 2035. ISRO has already started developing technologies for the space station. The space station to be placed in a low earth orbit. The BharatiyaAntariksh Station could accommodate 2 to 4 astronauts in space. Only Russia, the US and China have sent space stations in orbit. India may become the fourth country to have an independent space station in space.

Dr Unnikrishnan Nair, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, says work is on in full swing and the plan is to use India’s heaviest rocket, Bahubali, or Launch Vehicle Mark 3 to hoist the components into an orbit of about 400 km from earth.

India hopes to do microgravity experiments in space, including astrobiology experiments, and use the platform to explore the possibility of habitat on the surface of the moon.

According to initial estimates, the space station could weigh about 20 tonnes. It would be made of solid structures, but inflatable modules could be added. The final version could well go to about 400 tonnes.

One end of the space station will be a docking port for the crew module and rocket that will ferry astronauts. India is developing a 21st century special docking port for this and it may well be compatible with the docking port of International Space Station.

Once completed, the Indian space station can have four different modules and at least four pairs of solar panels. It will also have a permanently docked safety crew module escape system for use in case of emergencies.

The main module will be equipped with an India-made Environmental Life Support and Control System and it will help generate oxygen and remove carbon dioxide and keep relative humidity at optimum levels.

As per the current drawings, in the first phase, there will be two large solar panels that would generate the power required to run the BharatiyaAntariksh Station.

As part of the space vision 2047, Prime Minister Modi directed that India should now aim for ambitious goals, including setting up the space station and sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.