Bengaluru: India’s space agency, ISRO, has set an ambitious target: a fully operational Indian space station, called the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS), by 2035. This station will feature five modules, including a base, core, science lab, and two working units.
ISRO plans to launch the first module, the Base Module (BAS-1), by 2028 on an LVM-3 rocket. Hanumantray Baluragi, director of the Human Spaceflight Programme, recently shared that this module will weigh around 52 tonnes and will test essential technologies for life support and crew facilities. Initially uncrewed, BAS-1 will eventually support human missions after successful tests.
Following the upcoming Gaganyaan mission, which will send four astronauts into space, ISRO will work on missions to establish long-term crew presence at BAS. These missions will also involve trials of docking technology, some developed in collaboration with other space agencies, and some, like the Bharatiya Docking System, designed in India. The agency aims to conduct a series of uncrewed docking operations to demonstrate capabilities for future space station projects.
