India planning its own space station: ISRO chief

India is planning to launch its own space station, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Sivan said on Thursday.

The space station, which is estimated to weigh around 20 tonnes, would be an extension of the Gaganyaan mission -- India's first manned mission into space.

"India will set up its separate space station in the next 5-7 years after Gangayaan is successfully completely in 2022," Sivan told reporters here.

The space station will most likely be used to conduct microgravity experiments, he added.

The ISRO chief said that the preliminary plan for the space station is to accommodate astronauts for up to 15-20 days in space, but specific details will emerge after the Gaganyaan, is complete, he said.

There will be no collaboration with any other country for this project, he stressed.

The only countries that have had space stations so far are the the US, Russia, China and a consortium of nations that own the International Space Station.

Sivan also announced that the ISRO is planning launch two other missions to study the Sun and Venus.

The mission to the Sun, named Aditya-L1, would be launched in 2020 and the mission to Venus in mid-2023.

--IANS

rak/vd