32 missions, including Chandrayaan-2, planned for 2019: ISRO
Bengaluru, Jan 3: India has planned 32 missions, including the "most complex" Chandrayaan-2 during 2019, the Indian Space Research Organisation has said.
India's maiden human spaceflight programme 'Gaganyaan' activities would go full steam to accomplish the various development and qualification milestones during the year, the space agency said.
"The year 2019 promises to be much more challenging to the ISRO community with 32 planned missions (14 launch vehicles, 17 satellites and 1 Tech demo missions)," ISRO Chairman K Sivan said in a New Year message.
"This includes the most complex Chandrayaan-2, which will be the 25th mission from SLP (second launch pad), and the development flights of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV)," he said.
ISRO had earlier said Chandrayaan-2 will be launched in a window from January-February 16, 2019.
Sources said it is expected by the middle of next month but no date has been finalised.
"We are all trying hard. Definitely, it should be possible to launch the mission in February," a senior ISRO official told PTI.
"There is no impediment. It's on track," the official said.
Chandrayaan-2 mission, costing nearly Rs 800 crore, is an advanced version of the previous Chandrayaan-1 mission about 10 years ago.
This spacecraft to be launched on board GSLV-Mk III is a totally indigenous mission, comprising an Orbiter, Lander and Rover.
Sivan said during the year, Gaganyaan activities would go "full steam" to accomplish the various development and qualification milestones.
The Union Cabinet gave its nod for the Rs 9,023-crore programme last Friday.
The objective of the mission is to carry a three-member crew to low earth orbit and return them safely to a predefined destination on earth.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Independence Day announced that the mission would be undertaken by 2022.
ISRO is aiming to reinstate its microwave remote-sensing capability through the RISAT (Radar Imaging Satellite) series and attain operational Geo-imaging capability through the GISAT (GEO Imaging Satellite) series, according to Sivan.
It is also planned to progressively improve the payload capability of GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) and its variants.
The country would meet the high throughput bandwidth requirement of Digital India and also in-flight connectivity with the launch of GSAT-20.
On the application side, crop production estimation would be enhanced to cover 10 additional crops and also provide vital inputs for water and energy security, Sivan said.
He said 2019 is the birth centenary of the founding father of Indian Space Programme, Vikram A Sarabhai, and year-long celebrations, consisting of a host of national and international events, would commence August 12, 2019.
Terming 2018 as a year of many 'firsts' and 'beginnings' with profound growth in all directions, he said during the year ISRO completed 16 missions, signing off with seven successful missions within 35 days.
This included two successful GSLV missions in a single year.
Among other things, the period also witnessed active discussions and partnerships with other space agencies in advanced technology areas of human spaceflight and other areas like LOX/Methane propulsion, joint satellite missions, among others, he said.
A major initiative has been the UNNATI programme, which is an international programme to train participants on nano satellite assembly, and has evoked major respo ISRO-LD CHANDRAYAAN from 34 countries.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
