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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday underscored the growing integration of space technology into the fabric of India's governance, emphasising its impact on sectors ranging from crop insurance and disaster management to fisheries and infrastructure planning.
Addressing the National Space Day event in New Delhi, PM Modi noted that advancements such as satellite-based assessments for agricultural schemes and geospatial mapping under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan are directly contributing to safer, more informed, and streamlined services for ordinary citizens, reflecting the nation's remarkable progress in space innovation. "Today, space-tech is also becoming a part of governance in India. Whether it is satellite-based assessment in the crop insurance scheme or the information and safety provided to fishermen through satellites...Be it disaster management or the use of geospatial data in the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan... Today, India's progress in space is making the lives of ordinary citizens easier," the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister further asked the space startups of India whether they can create five unicorns in the space sector in the next five years. He urged private sector companies to come forward over the next five years, enabling India to reach a point where it launches 50 rockets annually. "Today, on the occasion of Space Day, I would like to ask the country's space start-ups whether we can create five unicorns in the space sector in the next 5 years. Now we see five big launches from India every year. I want the private sector to come forward, and in the next five years, we should reach a stage where we can launch 50 rockets every year. One rocket every week," PM Modi said. Earlier, Indian Space Research Organisation chief V Narayanan on Saturday credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "vision" and "leadership" for the success of the Chandrayaan 3 mission. The ISRO chairman was speaking at the main event of the National Space Day in New Delhi. He termed PM Modi as a "visionary leader", stating that he gave ISRO the directions and guidelines to carry out its space missions. Narayanan said that Prime Minister Modi named the Chandrayaan 3 landing spot as Shakti Point and declared 23 August as the National Space Day. "When you see the National Space Day, there a couple of people to thank. 23 August 2023 was a historical day. India successfully soft-landed Chandrayan-3 near the South Pole of the moon. We became the only country to successfully do so... The Prime Minister of India, who is a visionary leader and our Minister gave us directions and guidelines to carry out the space activities. It was he who named the landing spot of Chandryaan-3 as the 'Shiv Shakti' Point. He also declared 23 August as the National Space Day," V Narayanan said. V Narayanan announced that India will launch the Chandrayaan 4 mission, which will have the Venus Orbiter Mission. The ISRO chief emphasised that by the year 2035, India will establish the "Bhartiya Space Station" whose first module will be lifted off in the year 2035. He stated that India will land on the moon by 2040, which will make India's space program the world's top one. "Based on his direction and vision, we are going to have a Chandrayaan-4 mission. We are going to have a Venus Orbiter Mission. We are going to have a space station called BAS (Bharatiya Antriksh Station) by 2035, and the first module will be lifted off by 2028. The Prime Minister has given approval for an NGL (Next Generation Launcher)... By 2040, India will land on the moon and we are going to bring back safely. Thereby by 2040, Indian Space Program will be at par with any other space program of the world...," V Narayanan said. (ANI)
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