New Delhi: India’s second National Space Day on August 23 will be marked by a special homecoming — the country’s first four astronauts will be felicitated in the Capital by the Prime Minister, including Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who recently returned from the International Space Station (ISS).
The celebration, to be held at Bharat Mandapam, will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is expected to meet astronauts Prashanth Nair (48), Ajith Krishnan (43), Angad Pratap (43), and Shubhanshu Shukla (39). National Space Day commemorates India’s historic Chandrayaan-3 mission, which in 2023 achieved the first-ever landing on the Moon’s south pole.
This year, the event will also double up as a welcome ceremony for Shukla, who splashed down off the coast of California on July 15 after an 18-day mission aboard the ISS as part of the Axiom-4 crew. Since then, he has been in Houston, Texas, re-acclimatizing to Earth’s gravity — with videos showing him struggling to regain balance, a common post-mission phenomenon. While on board the ISS, Shukla had a live interaction with PM Modi.
The astronauts are part of India’s human spaceflight program, Gaganyaan. The first uncrewed flight is expected in the last quarter of this year, with the first crewed flight by early 2027.
ISRO’s 3rd satellite launch pad to be ready by 2028
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) targets to get its third satellite launch pad (TLP) facility ready by September 2028, Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Department of Space, informed the Parliament. The upcoming launch pad will be used for launching Gaganyatris, astronauts participating in the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission, onboard the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), which is under development, in addition to lifting off other heavier and strategic satellites into space.
The third launch pad design will support the Launch Vehicle Mak 3 (offering a lift-off mass of up to 4,000 kg), supported with the semicryogenic stage.
“Subsequently, the geo-technical investigation and topography survey of the site were completed by May this year. Road works and electrical works are currently under evaluation. Multiple work packages have been identified for the establishment of the TLP facilities,” he said.
