2021 to be year of Chandrayaan-3, says FM, allocates Rs 4,000 cr for oceans

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced the execution of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV-C51) launch under the public sector undertaking - New Space India Limited. The announcement was made as Sitharaman tabled the Union Budget for FY 2021-22 in the Parliament. 

"The New Space India Limited, a PSU, under Department of Space will execute the launch of PSLV-C51 carrying satellites from Brazil and India," the finance minister told the Parliament. 

The finance minister also mentioned Chandrayaan-3, a successor to the Chandrayaan-2 mission to the far side of the moon, in her Budget speech. "2021 will be the year of Chandrayaan-3", the finance minister said as she began her third Budget presentation. 

The government allocated Rs 4,000 crore to study the oceans and explore the oceanic biosphere. Sitharaman said, "our oceans are a storehouse of living and non-living resources, to understand this realm we will launch deep ocean mission with a budget outlay of over Rs 4,000 crore over five years." 

The mission will cover deep ocean survey projects for the conservation of ocean biodiversity. 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds a case containing a tablet device, during the Budget Session of the Parliament

She further added that as part of the ambitious Gangnyaan mission, four Indian astronauts are being trained in Russia on generic space flight aspects. The first unmanned launch is slated for December 2021. The Gaganyaan is a crewed orbital spacecraft expected to carry three astronauts into space for at least seven days. The spacecraft is likely to consist of an orbital module which will have a service and a crew module. The mission is estimated to cost around Rs 10,000 crore. The GSLV Mk-III, now called LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3), will be deployed for the launch. 

ISRO's PSLV-C50 rocket launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Thursday.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) in a joint partnership with Roscosmos is undertaking the training of four Indian Air Force pilots for the proposed manned mission which will take place following the unmanned mission. A date for manned mission is yet to be issued. 

Isro has outlined its plan for the next decade in line with global directions. The space agency is planning to work on developing a heavy-lift launch vehicle, semi-cryogenic stage, reusable launch vehicle, advance propulsion, next-generation avionics, advance materials, dynamic space applications and efficient integration of space-based services as well as advanced space science missions.