Exploring New Frontiers: India’s Chandrayaan-4, Venus Orbiter Mission, and Future Space Station Plans

Expanding Horizons in Space Sector: From Lunar Exploration to a National Space Station

India is charting a bold course in space exploration, with an array of visionary missions and projects approved by the Union Cabinet. These initiatives, led by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), signal the nation’s commitment to becoming a leader in space technology and research. From the upcoming Chandrayaan-4 mission and Venus Orbiter Mission to the ambitious Bharatiya Anthariksh Station (BAS) project, the Government of India is significantly expanding its space program during the Amrit Kaal. These projects aim to enhance India’s technological capabilities, foster industry collaboration, and strengthen the country’s position in global space exploration.

Chandrayaan-4 Mission

Chandrayaan-4 mission, aims at developing and demonstrating key technologies required for returning to Earth after a successful lunar landing. This mission will also focus on collecting samples from the Moon and analyzing them on Earth. Chandrayaan-4 is a critical step toward establishing India’s capabilities for a human mission to the Moon, planned for 2040. The mission will showcase advanced technologies for docking, undocking, landing, and returning safely to Earth, alongside lunar sample collection and analysis.

The successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 demonstrated vital technologies that only a few nations possess. Building on this, Chandrayaan-4 will focus on returning lunar samples safely to Earth, a critical capability in future manned missions. The mission, managed by ISRO and expected to be completed within 36 months of approval, will have strong participation from industry and academia. All critical technologies will be developed indigenously, creating high employment potential and technological spin-offs for other sectors. The total funding requirement is Rs. 2,104.06 crore, covering spacecraft development, two launch vehicle missions of LVM3, external deep space network support, and special tests for design validation.

The mission will empower India to achieve self-reliance in key technologies essential for manned space missions, lunar sample retrieval, and the scientific examination of lunar materials. A significant collaboration with Indian industries is planned, fostering broad engagement in the mission. Additionally, Indian academia will be actively involved through Chandrayaan-4 science meetings and workshops, creating opportunities for knowledge sharing. The mission will also establish specialized facilities for the preservation and analysis of the lunar samples brought back, turning them into valuable national assets for future research and development.

Venus Orbiter Mission

The ambitious Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM) marks a major step forward in India’s planetary exploration efforts beyond the Moon and Mars. Venus, the planet closest to Earth and believed to have formed under conditions similar to our own, presents a unique opportunity to study how planetary environments can evolve in dramatically different ways. This mission aligns with the government’s long-term vision of advancing space exploration capabilities.

The Venus Orbiter Mission, led by the Department of Space, will place a scientific spacecraft in orbit around Venus. The mission aims to improve our understanding of the planet’s surface, subsurface, atmospheric processes, and the Sun’s influence on its atmosphere. Investigating the causes behind Venus’s transformation from a potentially habitable planet to its current state will provide crucial insights into the evolutionary paths of both Venus and Earth. ISRO will oversee the development and launch of the spacecraft, following its well-established project management practices. The data collected from the mission will be shared with the scientific community, fostering further research. The mission is expected for launch in March 2028, offering significant scientific insights and various outcomes, particularly in answering unresolved questions about Venus.

The total approved budget for the Venus Orbiter Mission is Rs. 1,236 crore, with Rs. 824 crore allocated to spacecraft development. The cost includes development and realization of the spacecraft including its specific payloads and technology elements, global ground station support cost for navigation and network as well as the cost of launch vehicle.

The mission is expected to strengthen India’s capabilities for future planetary exploration, with the potential to handle larger payloads and optimize orbital insertion techniques. It also involves extensive collaboration with Indian industry for the spacecraft and launch vehicle, creating significant employment opportunities and technological benefits across sectors. In addition, academic institutions will play a key role in training students in areas such as design, development, testing, and calibration in the pre-launch phase. The mission’s advanced instruments will generate new, valuable data for the Indian scientific community, creating exciting new research opportunities.

Bharatiya Anthariksh Station

The construction of the first module of the Bharatiya Anthariksh Station (BAS-1) marks a significant expansion of the Gaganyaan program. This decision paves the way for missions aimed at developing and validating the technologies required to build and operate the Indian space station. The revised scope of the Gaganyaan program will now include precursor missions for BAS, additional hardware requirements, and the inclusion of an additional uncrewed mission.

The Gaganyaan program, initially approved in December 2018, was designed to launch human spaceflight missions to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and lay the groundwork for India’s long-term ambitions in human space exploration. The expanded vision of the Indian space program during Amrit Kaal includes establishing an operational Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035 and sending an Indian crewed mission to the Moon by 2040. The program will involve eight missions, to be completed by 2028, including the launch of the first unit of BAS-1.

ISRO will lead the Gaganyaan program, working closely with industry, academia, and other national agencies. Four missions under the current Gaganyaan plan are expected by 2026, followed by four additional missions focused on demonstrating and validating technologies for the space station by December 2028. India will acquire vital capabilities for human space missions to LEO through the establishment of BAS. This national space facility will significantly enhance microgravity-based scientific research and technology development. The resulting technological advancements will likely lead to innovations across multiple sectors. Additionally, the program is expected to spur increased industrial participation and economic activity, generating employment, particularly in high-tech fields related to space and allied industries.

The revised Gaganyaan program now has a total funding allocation of ₹20,193 crore, with an additional ₹11,170 crore in newly approved funding. The program will present an exciting opportunity for India’s youth, inspiring careers in science, technology, and microgravity research, ultimately benefiting society through the resulting technological innovations and advancements.

Union Budget 2024-25

Significant announcements have been made in relation to the infrastructure sector in the Union Budget 2024-25, presented by the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. A Rs. 1,000 crore Venture Capital Fund for space startups has been launched to catalyze growth in the burgeoning space sector, positioning India as a key player in the global space economy.

Conclusion

India’s space program is entering an exciting new phase, marked by ambitious missions and unprecedented technological advancements. The approval of Chandrayaan-4, the Venus Orbiter Mission, and the Bharatiya Anthariksh Station demonstrates the government’s commitment to advancing the country’s space exploration capabilities. These projects not only elevate India’s standing in the global space arena but also catalyze technological innovation and create significant employment opportunities. As India forges ahead with its space ambitions, these missions will ensure that the country remains at the forefront of scientific discovery and space research for decades to come.

References

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2055983

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2055982

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2055978

7. India attends Ministerial Meeting of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal along with 13 other IPEF Ministers virtually attended the third Ministerial meeting focused on IPEF Pillar II, III, and IV.                

In particular, Minister Goyal along with other IPEF Ministers welcomed the upcoming entry into force of the Clean Economy Agreement, Fair Economy Agreement, and the Overarching Agreement on IPEF on October 11, 2024, October 12, 2024, and October 11, 2024, respectively, and emphasized the significant opportunities to further deepen economic cooperation and deliver concrete benefits under the IPEF agreements through ongoing collaboration.

Supply Chain Resilience

In the virtual meeting, IPEF Ministers reviewed and appreciated the substantive progress made to operationalize the Supply Chain Agreement, deepening cooperation to build more competitive and resilient supply chains, better prepare for, prevent, and respond to supply chain disruptions when they happen, and ensure that regional supply chains raise up workers and respect labor rights.  They outlined concrete next steps for the upcoming months, building on the progress made by the Supply Chain Agreement’s three bodies: the Supply Chain Council, Crisis Response Network, and Labor Rights Advisory Board.  IPEF partners also highlighted the meaningful collaboration taking place under the Supply Chain Agreement which includes:

The IPEF Ministers noted that the three supply chain bodies – the Supply Chain Council (Council), the Crisis Response Network (Network), and the Labor Rights Advisory Board (LRAB) – met virtually in July to elect leadership in which India was elected as Vice Chair of the Council with US as Chair; Korea as Chair and Japan as Vice Chair of the Network; and the United States as Chair and Fiji as Vice Chair of the LRAB.

Minister Goyal noted that the formation of Action Plan teams in the first in person meeting of supply chain council held in Washington last week, for three critical sectors – semiconductors, critical minerals with a focus on batteries, and chemicals which are highly relevant today given their supply/production concentration and the experience learned from disruptions faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The world has witnessed exponential growth in demand for clean energy solutions to meet respective climate goals. The paradigm shift towards a sustainable and low-carbon future has brought to the forefront of the critical importance in securing a reliable supply of minerals which are critical for green transition.

The use of specific minerals is indispensable for the sectors including clean energy, electronics, defence, transportation, telecommunications, fertilisers, and pharmaceuticals. One of the key challenges in supply chains is risk on account of concentration of global capacities or resources, which can add to price volatility and supply uncertainty. The work under the Action Plan team needs to address this global concentration of supply chains in any form.

The growing population puts immense pressure on limited agricultural land for higher yields and in this context, the importance of resilient supply chains for Agro-chemicals has become extremely important. According to an estimate, the Global Agrochemicals Market (fertilizers, pesticides, adjuvants, and plant regulators) is projected to reach USD 282.2 billion by 2028 from USD 235.2 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 3.7%.

Minister Goyal emphasized that healthcare including pharmaceuticals and medical devices is an extremely relevant area due to over concentration of global production of APIs and Key Starting Materials (KSMs) which can severely impair supply chain resilience and impact our capacity to address the healthcare needs of our economies. Besides, the multimodal transport systems including multimodal transport corridors, upgrades of logistics infrastructure, enhanced technological interoperability and data flows among freight and logistics enterprises, are some of the key areas which need to be focused upon.  

Minister Goyal noted that IPEF’s focus on Logistics and Movement of Good aligns perfectly with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of Gati Shakti initiative, which aims to improve logistics and transportation infrastructure across India through evidence based integrated planning. Further, data and analytics on one hand will help identify new opportunities for collaboration for better resilience amongst IPEF supply chains and on other will help identify structural and systemic risks, enhancing the Council’s ability to address current challenges. He emphasized the workforce development which is a key cross cutting component of building resilient supply chains across the IPEF region should include efforts to identify skill gaps, support reskilling and upskilling, and ensure skill qualification comparability across the region to facilitate workforce mobility.

Crisis Response Network

IPEF Ministers emphasized the importance of collaboration under the Crisis Response Network to help partners timely understand risks in their supply chains. They also reflected on the emergency simulation exercise conducted during the Crisis Response Network (CRN) in person meeting to assist partners in creating tailored systems for real-time monitoring and crisis preparedness.

Clean Economy

Agreement on Clean Economy intends to accelerate efforts of IPEF partners towards energy security and transition, climate resilience and adaptation, GHG emissions mitigation; find/develop innovative ways of reducing dependence on fossil fuel energy; promote technical cooperation, workforce development, capacity building, and research collaborations; and collaborate to facilitate development, access, and deployment of clean energy and climate-friendly technologies.  The IPEF partners welcomed the progress made on the eight Cooperative Work Programs (CWPs), which serve as one of the primary mechanisms under the Clean Economy Agreement for facilitating cooperation among participating IPEF partners on priority topics. Each CWP, as developed by the proposing IPEF partner or partners, in consultation with the other IPEF partners, has different objectives and workstreams to carry forward the collaborative work.  During the virtual Ministerial, the IPEF partners commended the progress made on the Clean Economy Agreement since the successful Ministerial and inaugural Clean Economy Investor Forum in June.

The IPEF partners welcomed the continued efforts to build and sustain longer-term cooperation among various groupings of interested partners on a range of climate solutions through the CWP mechanism, in furtherance of the overarching goals of the IPEF Clean Economy Agreement, especially w.r.t hydrogen, carbon markets, and small modular reactors (SMRs) and e-waste urban mining proposed by India.

IPEF Ministers expressed great satisfaction over the very successful first IPEF investor Forum held in Singapore which provided a common platform to the investors and the project proponents together and facilitated them to gainfully engage on a wide array of investment opportunities including innovative ideas in the space of climate friendly technologies.

Fair Economy

          By strengthening anti-corruption efforts and enhancing the efficiency of tax administration, the IPEF partners are demonstrating their commitment to increased transparency and predictability, and thereby will be better positioned to expand their trade, investment ties and ensure the benefits of trade are broadly shared throughout their economies.

The IPEF partners welcomed the next steps to implement the Agreement, including operationalizing the Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Coordination Group that will coordinate technical assistance and capacity building (TACB) under the Agreement’s Capacity Building Framework. Some of the TACB initiatives highlighted include:-

• The US Department of Commerce’s Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP)’s  two-year program will offer IPEF partners TACB to help with implementation of the anti-corruption provisions of the Agreement, primarily focused on enforcement training centered on foreign bribery, corporate liability, and compliance.
• In August 2024, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Technical Assistance (OTA)’s virtual workshop served as a forum for the IPEF partners to discuss the importance of effective tax administration to support economic and development objectives.
• In October 2024, the US State Department, with the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, will hold an IPEF workshop focused on the implementation and enforcement of foreign bribery laws and another IPEF workshop on preventing corruption in public procurement, including tools to improve the effectiveness of oversight mechanisms, appeal systems, and potential remedies and legal options.

Minister Goyal underscored that peer learning, knowledge sharing and capacity building initiatives under the Fair Economy agreement will remain key to achieving its objectives. India, under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has established a robust anti-corruption regime and has already implemented several legislative, administrative, and regulatory measures to address both corruption and promote tax transparency. 

Minister Goyal emphasized that the full potential of IPEF can only be realised if each partner country brings their respective strengths to the table whether it is technological advancements or investment capacity or market potential or requisite resources including skilled workforce, to address various challenges of supply chain resilience or green transition.

The IPEF partners agreed that the Ministers will continue to monitor the progress made to further operationalize the Supply Chain Agreement, the Clean Economy Agreement, the Fair Economy Agreement, and the IPEF Overarching arrangement, and look forward to the first meetings of the ministerial-level IPEF Council and IPEF Joint Commission established under the IPEF Overarching  Agreement .

About IPEF

IPEF was launched on 23 May 2022 at Tokyo, Japan, comprising 14 countries – Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and USA. The IPEF seeks to strengthen economic engagement and cooperation among partner countries with the goal of advancing growth, economic stability and prosperity in the region.

The framework is structured around four pillars relating to Trade (Pillar I); Supply Chain Resilience (Pillar II); Clean Economy (Pillar III); and Fair Economy (Pillar IV). Agreement on Supply Chain Resilience (Pillars II) was signed in November 2023 and is in force since February 2024. Agreement on Clean Economy (Pillar-III), Agreement on Fair Economy (Pillar- IV) and the IPEF Overarching Agreement were signed by India early this week in Delaware, USA in the presence of the Prime Minister during his 3-day visit to the US.  India has maintained an observer status in Pillar-I.

These agreements were negotiated in consultation with line Ministries/Departments including the Ministry of External Affairs and other relevant stakeholders.

8. Indian Railways-Wabtec JV’s Marhowra Plant to Begin Exporting Evolution Series Locomotives to Africa by 2025

Wabtec Locomotive Private Limited, a joint venture between Indian Railways and Wabtec, is expanding the capabilities of its plant to export locomotives to Africa. For the first time, the plant will manufacture locomotives for export to a global customer.

The plant will supply Evolution Series ES43ACmi locomotives to global customers. The ES43ACmi is a locomotive featuring a 4,500 HP Evolution Series engine, offering best-in-class fuel efficiency and proven performance in high-temperature environments. The Marhowra plant will begin exporting these locomotives in 2025.

This project is of strategic importance as it positions India as a global locomotive manufacturing hub and aligns with the “Make in India” and “Make for the World” initiatives under the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister. It will also enable the Marhowra plant to export standard-gauge locomotives globally, expanding the local supplier footprint and fostering long-term job creation, thereby benefiting the Indian economy.

The success of the public-private partnership between the Ministry of Railways and Wabtec has positioned the Marhowra plant as a world-class global manufacturing site, utilizing an extensive local supplier base from across India. To date, around 650 locomotives have been manufactured and added to the Indian Railways locomotive fleet. The Ministry of Railways and Wabtec will continue to collaborate to enhance the plant’s capability and competitiveness, positioning it for sustainable, long-term export production work.

The Marhowra plant, situated on 70 acres in Marhowra, Bihar, was established in 2018 to indigenously manufacture 1,000 state-of-the-art locomotives for Indian Railways. The plant provides employment to about 600 people and has been consistently delivering 100 locomotives annually to Indian Railways. It has also given a significant boost to industrial activities in the state.

9. Curtain Raiser

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is organizing an interaction with Forecasters & Economists of GDP and CPI on 24^th September, 2024 in Mumbai.

The objective of the interaction is to seek feedback and suggestions of the Forecasters and Economists who are actively using GDP and CPI data for making these indices more robust and effective from. This interaction will provide an opportunity to MoSPI to share with the stakeholders the proposed improvements which are expected to be incorporated during Base revision exercise of both the indices. This will invigorate the exchange of views/insights and sharing of expertise related to GDP and CPI among the stakeholders.

In this backdrop, Interaction with Forecasters & Economists of GDP and CPI assumes greater significance to deliberate on the various aspects of these indicators’ methodologies along with data sources in more collaborative approach to the MoSPI and Forecasters & Economists of the country.

Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Secretary, MoSPI, Chief Economic Advisor, Additional Chief Secretary, Maharashtra, Member, EAC-PM, and other eminent dignitaries are likely to attend the event. The Forecasters of GDP & CPI, Economists, representatives of Banks, Financial Institutions and organisations involved in analysis of economic indicators are the participants in the event. More than 40 participants from such institutions are expected to attend this event. Presentations on National Accounts, Price Statistics are also scheduled during the event to make it more fruitful.