Jitendra Singh, the minister of science and technology, claimed that India has advanced significantly in space technology under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guidance and has taken the lead in using it to support infrastructure and economic projects. Singh expressed confidence that Chandrayaan-3's scheduled touchdown on the lunar surface on Wednesday would go as planned. He also added that India will launch its first preliminary mission later this year in preparation for its manned Gaganyaan mission, which is anticipated to take place in the second half of 2024.

 

As per him, there will be two unmanned missions before the manned expedition, one of which will include a robot. Noting the widespread enthusiasm for the moon trip, he claimed that the Modi administration had significantly increased awareness of India's space technologies and freed the space sector.

 

In response to a query regarding the failure of Russia's lunar mission, he remarked that it had taken a different path and employed different equipment than India had. He added that there is a palpable enthusiasm about the Chandrayaan-3 touchdown as everyone has taken "ownership" about it. Over 115 firms have formed in the space sector in the previous three years, he claimed.

 

Based on him, experts have also drawn lessons from the previous mission and taken corrective action. India has embraced space technology for development and infrastructure projects, he added, whether it was to ensure safety at unmanned railway stations or guarantee the success of the "Swamitva Yojana," which employs technology to draw boundaries in rural areas to fix property ownership.