ISRO to triple spacecraft output, launch Chandrayaan-4 in 2028: Chairman
Kolkata (PTI): ISRO is gearing up for one of its busiest times with seven more launches planned this financial year, even as India's first human spaceflight remains scheduled for 2027, its chairman V Narayanan said.
In an interview with PTI, he said ISRO is preparing for a phase of rapid scaling in science, technology and industry capacity.
Narayanan said ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is targeting seven more launches before the end of the current financial year, including a commercial communication satellite, and multiple PSLV and GSLV missions. A milestone will be the launch of the first PSLV manufactured entirely by the Indian industry.
The ISRO chief said the government has approved the Chandrayaan-4 mission, designed as a lunar sample-return mission and it will be India's most complex lunar endeavour yet.
"We are targeting 2028 for Chandrayaan-4," he said.
Another key mission is LUPEX, the joint lunar polar exploration programme with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).
ISRO is simultaneously working to triple its annual spacecraft production in the next three years to keep pace with expanding mission demand.
Chandrayaan-4 will attempt to bring back samples from the moon -- a capability currently demonstrated only by the US, Russia and China.
LUPEX aims to study water ice at the lunar south pole.
Narayanan said ISRO has begun work on an Indian Space Station, targeted for completion by 2035.
"The first of the five modules will be placed in orbit by 2028," he said.
The endeavour would make India the third major nation to operate a space station, as the US-led ISS nears its end and China's Tiangong moves into full operation.
On India's maiden human-spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, Narayanan clarified that only the timeframe for uncrewed missions has shifted.
"Let me make it clear: the uncrewed mission was targeted for 2025. The crewed mission was always planned for 2027, and we are holding on to that date," he said.
Three uncrewed test missions will precede the first flight with Indian astronauts.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also directed ISRO to work towards sending Indian astronauts to the lunar surface and bringing them back safely by 2040.
India's long-term human-spaceflight plan now aligns it with the world's leading space powers. The US plans lunar crewed missions under Artemis, while China has set a 2030 target for its first crewed moon landing.
India's share in the global space economy is currently around 2 per cent, and ISRO is working towards increasing it to 8 per cent by 2030, Narayanan said.
India's space economy is currently valued at around USD 8.2 billion and is projected to grow to USD 44 billion by 2033, while the global space economy, he said, stands at about USD 630 billion currently and could reach USD 1.8 trillion by 2035.
He said the space-sector reforms have sharply increased private participation.
Narayanan said more than 450 industries and 330 startups are now active in India's space ecosystem -- a massive rise from just three startups a few years ago.
"We now have a vibrant base ecosystem, and it will grow further," he said.
India's private space industry has accelerated post regulatory reforms in 2020, enabling private rocket development, satellite manufacture and commercial launch services.
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'Sharjeel Imam not a disciple of Umar Khalid,' his counsel tells court
New Delhi (PTI): The counsel for the jailed activist Sharjeel Imam told a court here on Thursday that Umar Khalid never mentored his client before the 2020 Delhi riots, and the prosecution's allegation that Imam was a disciple of Khalid was "absurd."
The submissions were made before Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai, who was hearing arguments on the charge against Imam, an accused in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots conspiracy case.
Counsels for Imam, Ahmad Ibrahim, and Talib Mustafa submitted before the court that, despite their client and Khalid being the students of the same varsity, Jawaharlal Nehru University, there was no direct or indirect communication between them.
"The allegations find no support from the materials relied upon by the prosecution. Rather, the applicant (Imam) never spoke to Umar Khalid. It is highly improbable and rather unbelievable that the applicant, who, as per the prosecution, was mentored by Umar Khalid, never had any calls or messages with him," Imam's counsel Mustafa said in the court.
He said both were added to two groups, the Muslim Students of JNU (MSJ) and the CAB TEAM, just because they were students of the same university.
Referring to the prosecution's allegation that Imam hatched a criminal conspiracy with the other accused persons to cause a 'chakka jam,' which was later escalated into violent riots, his counsel said that there was no evidence that showed that at any point in time Imam had any intention to incite violence.
"In none of the materials relied upon by the prosecution, including speeches. pamphlets, chats and Facebook posts of Imam, there is nothing which could even remotely suggest that the applicant at any point of time had any intention to incite violence," he said.
He also contended that the prosecution tried to create a narrative of religious extremism around Imam by conflating purported discussions of issues affecting a particular religious community.
"Notably, mere academic criticism of events perceived by the applicant to be against a community doesn't make one communal, much less an extremist," he said.
According to the prosecution, Imam, along with other MSJ members, participated in a protest called by Jamia Milia Islamia students, where allegedly pamphlets were distributed to incite communal feelings among the Muslim community and induce them to protest against the CAA.
"Nothing communal in the alleged pamphlet. Merely talks about the discriminatory nature of CAA and its possible consequence if implemented coupled with NRC (National Register of Citizens)," his counsel said, concluding his arguments.
The case pertains to the February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi that left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
The violence erupted during widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The Delhi Police has alleged that Imam was involved in deliberate mobilisation, radicalisation and preparation of ground conditions through organised chakka jams, blockage of arterial roads, and disruption of essential services.
He allegedly created and administered the WhatsApp group, Muslim Students of JNU, which functioned as a coordinating mechanism for mobilisation, identification of protest sites.
Police accused Imam of attending and participating in conspiratorial meetings in Jangpura, where the strategy of chakka jam and escalation of protests was discussed.
Imam's role was allegedly not geographically confined to Delhi and acted as a mobiliser and ideologue, as the appellant travelled to Aligarh and other locations, police said.
Police also accused Imam of playing a decisive role in the creation and sustenance of the Shaheen Bagh protest site, which evolved into a prolonged round-the-clock blockade of a major arterial road.
They alleged that the Imam's role was foundational and preparatory, and that liability for conspiracy does not require physical presence at the scene of violence once the plan has been set in motion.
