India to Send Astronaut to the Moon by 2040

Facts

• On Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country plans to send its first astronaut to the Moon by 2040.¹
• He added that the Department of Space is tasked with setting up the nation's first space station by 2035 and working on missions to Venus and Mars.²
• In August, India became the first country to land a spacecraft on the Moon's south pole. Last month, it launched a mission to study the Sun to protect the planet's 'technological assets from space weather and solar activity.'³
• On Oct. 21, the country is set to launch its first human spaceflight mission before its planned attempt to launch at least three astronauts to low-Earth orbit before the end of 2024.⁴
• This comes after India signed the Artemis Accords in June, which will allow the nation's astronauts to receive advanced training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.⁵

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²Reuters, ³Smithsonian Magazine, ⁴The Times of India and ⁵BusinessLine.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by News18. With its sights firmly set on the Moon and beyond, India is becoming a prominent player in space research and is set to compete with the US and China to produce space technology.
• Narrative B, as provided by Mint. While a crewed mission to the Moon would put India into an exclusive club, carrying humans on the lunar surface and bringing them back is fraught with risks India may not be equipped to take.

Predictions