India Planning To Build Its Own Space Station By 2030

India with an aim to broaden its space exploration ambitions is planning for a long-term presence in the Earth's orbit. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chief K Sivan revealed the space agency's plans for launching a space station around 2030.

It won't be as big as the International Space Station where astronauts could stay for 15 to 20 days, but it would be big enough to allow microgravity experiments. India won't be depending on other countries for its experiments, Sivan said.

The details about the new venture will come after India's first human space mission in 2022. The ISRO is now focusing on uncrewed lander mission to the Moon that is said to take flight on July 15th.

If everything goes as planned, it will put the country in an exclusive club. Apart from the partner countries involved with the ISS, only Russia, China, and the US have orbital labs away from Earth.

Previously, the country officially registered its name in the elite group by successfully conducting an anti-satellite (A-SAT) missile test on March 27. India is only the fourth country alongside the US, Russia, and China.

"Mission Shakti operation was a difficult target to achieve and was completed successfully within three minutes of launch. This was a test operation carried out by India and was not targeted against anyone," said Modi.

Although no A-SAT weapon has been deployed for the actual military until now, it seems to be a great achievement for the country to have a weapon of such potential in its arsenal. Other countries are yet to respond on India's A-SAT test, and PM Modi also clarified that the test didn't violate any international norms.

This shows that space exploration is at the forefront of space advancements. Besides, NASA has also confirmed that India's Chandrayaan 2 will be carrying the space agency's laser retroreflector arrays.