India has made significant strides in space science, marking a year of remarkable achievements. Following its successful lunar landing, India launched the Aditya L-1 mission to study the solar system closely. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is now preparing for the Chandrayaan-4 and Venus missions after the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
The 2024-25 budget allocates funds for the Chandrayaan-4 spacecraft, two LVM-3 rockets, and the space network necessary for continuous communication with Chandrayaan-4. The goal of the Chandrayaan-4 mission is to land a spacecraft on the Moon, collect samples, and return them safely to Earth, with a budget of ₹2,104 crore.
ISRO views this upcoming mission as a step towards landing humans on the Moon by 2040. The 2024 launch schedule includes the Proba-3 mission, which is set for December 5, 2024, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre using the PSLV-XL rocket.
Additionally, ISRO plans to launch the SPADEX mission on December 30, 2024, also from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre with the PSLV-C60 rocket. This mission aims to connect two different spacecraft in orbit.
The Indian Space Hackathon 2024 will focus on solving problems related to geospatial domains, space science, image processing, and AI/ML.
On August 23, 2024, India celebrated its first National Space Day, commemorating its achievement as the fourth country to land on the Moon and the first to reach the southern polar region.