Indian Space Station: Development & launch of first module to cost $187mn

The overall system engineering of the first module of India's space station (Bharatiya Antariksh Station) and related technology development activities for various subsystems are progressing at the space agency ISRO's Centres, the Government has revealed in Parliament. India has planned to place an uncrewed space station about 400-600 km above the Earth. Gradually, ISRO hopes to build on the uncrewed station and make a five-module station capable of housing astronauts.

Elaborating on the status of the first module of the Space Station, Space Minister Jitendra Singh said that ISRO's lead facility, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, has issued an Expression of Interest to Indian Industries for building the structure for the first module of Bharatiya Antariksh Station. The current approval is limited to the first module of Bharatiya Antariksh Station, and the cost of developing and launching the first module is estimated at ₹ 1763 crore (approx. $ 176 mn) over four years (2025 to 2028), it was revealed.

Major technology goals targeted for BAS include rendezvous & docking, robotics, in-orbit refuelling, crew quarters, intra-vehicular suit, and racks for microgravity experiments. Key microgravity research areas targeted include life sciences, pharmaceuticals, material sciences and manufacturing technologies, said Minister Singh. He added that "it is targeted to have the first module of BAS by 2028 and fully operational BAS with all five modules by 2035". ISRO is also working on the second and third iterations of Space Docking Experiment(SPADEX), which are enabling technologies that play a crucial role in space station development.

Since 2018, India has been working on the Gaganyaan programme to send its astronauts 400 km above Earth, aboard a capsule launched by its own rocket. Gaganyaan is seen as the first step of India's human spaceflight programme, as it involves only a couple of days of stay in space. The Indian Space Station project is a step towards enabling long-term and sustained presence of Indian astronauts in the space environment.

With ISRO having to work simultaneously on the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, lunar missions Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5, space station development, and a host of regular launch vehicle and satellite missions, executing these projects within the planned timeframe is widely regarded as a tall order.