Manned space flight is an important indicator of a country's space strength. It has high technical difficulty, strict requirements for accuracy and reliability, and covers a wide range of fields, covering the fields of launch rocket technology, space application technology, and space science and technology, and is an important symbol for testing a country's comprehensive aerospace strength. All the world's space powers attach importance to the development of manned space technology and hope to reach a certain height here.
In recent years, as China has made remarkable achievements in the field of manned spaceflight, countries around the world have paid more attention to the development of manned spaceflight, including our neighbor India.
Chinese manned spacecraft in launch.
Outstanding results.
In recent years, India has made considerable progress in the field of aerospace. In August last year, India's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft lander successfully landed at the south pole of the moon, becoming the first spacecraft in the world to successfully land at the south pole of the moon. Soon after, India successfully launched the first solar observer.
India's Chandrayaan-3 probe has successfully landed near the moon's south pole, making India the fourth country to successfully land on the moon. India's lunar exploration program has not been smooth sailing.
In October 2008, India launched the Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe, which launched India's first deep-space mission. The lunar probe consists of an orbiter and an impactor, through which the orbiter conducts a circumlunar tour, and the impactor hits the lunar surface to survey the surface and interior of the moon. Although the mission was terminated due to a malfunction of the probe in August 2009, India was able to obtain a large amount of data. The attempt was met with some success.
The Indian lunar rover successfully landed on the moon.
In July 2019, India launched the Chandrayaan-2 probe. This probe, which includes 1 orbiter and 1 lander, is planned to make observations around the Moon and land on the Moon. Although its lander crashed due to a failed landing, its orbiter is still operating normally in orbit and has provided assistance to the success of the Chandrayaan-3 probe. The Chandrayaan-3 probe includes a lander and a lunar rover. After its launch, the probe underwent several orbit changes, landed on the moon and released the lunar rover named "Pragian".
India's Solar Exploration Programme mission is called Aditya-L1. The detector weighs 15 tons, carrying 7 payloads: visible coronagraph, solar ultraviolet imaging telescope, solar wind particle detector, plasma detection package, solar low-energy X-ray spectrometer, solar high-energy X-ray spectrometer and magnetometer. It is planned to observe the Sun's corona, solar flares, and other conditions around the orbit of the Lagrange point L1. The successful launch of the solar observer is a new achievement in the field of space science for India.
In November 2013, India launched the Mangarian Mars rover, which successfully entered the Mars orbit on September 24, 2014. The probe is equipped with a number of scientific exploration instruments such as spectrometers, imagers and ion mass spectrometers, which are used to collect the atmosphere, surface geological structure and magnetic field of Mars. The mission's success is the first probe in Asia to successfully enter Mars orbit, and the fourth country in the world to do so, after the United States, the former Soviet Union and Europe.
Indian rocket with a thrust of up to 630 tons.
In February 2017, India launched 104 satellites with a single rocket, setting a new world record for multiple satellites with one rocket. The rocket launched carried one 730-kilogram Tography-2D satellite, two more 19-kilogram satellites and 101 5-kilogram satellites. Although the overall payload is not large, it also reflects the progress of technology such as splitter interface and timing control when India launches a large number of satellites.
The above examples fully demonstrate India's achievements in the field of space and fully demonstrate that India is one of the countries that has made the greatest progress in the field of space in recent years.
Indian space from the perspective of the lunar exploration program.
India's lunar exploration program includes four phases of mission planning: orbiting exploration, landing exploration, lunar surface sampling and sample return. India's lunar exploration program has experienced some ups and downs, but it has also been well planned and progressive. Each detector progresses slowly and progressively according to the needs of the mission. The Chandrayaan-1 probe achieved orbital detection and lunar surface impact detection.
India's various types of rocket-based Chandrayaan-2 probes are planning to land on the lunar surface while carrying out orbital exploration. The Chandrayaan-3 probe made a soft landing on the lunar surface and released the lunar rover. In the future, India's lunar exploration program will focus on sampling and exploration missions in the south pole region of the moon, and plans to launch the Chandrayaan-4 probe between 2026 and 2028 to drill lunar samples.
India's manned space program.
India plans to send two to three astronauts into space in the near future and spend several days in space, followed by plans to build its own space station and land Indian astronauts on the moon by 2040 in the long term.
To this end, India has carried out astronaut training and specially developed the "Gaganyan" spacecraft. The spacecraft weighs 53 tons, consisting of a manned compartment and a service compartment, can carry 3 people. On October 21 this year, India tested the escape system of the Gaganyan spacecraft. After the spacecraft flew to the predetermined position, the manned capsule separated from the rocket and returned to Earth smoothly, landing on the sea surface of the Bay of Bengal. The trial had the desired effect.
India's Gaganyan spacecraft, India plans to launch two more unmanned test spacecraft in February and June 2024 respectively, carrying robots to test the performance of the spacecraft. After these two launches confirm that the spacecraft's performance is up to standard, the first manned spacecraft will be launched in January 2025. The first manned mission is planned to carry a crew of three. If successful, India will become the fourth country after Russia, the United States and China to complete a manned space mission on its own.
Really surpass China?
India has always regarded China as its main target and adversary in the space sector. The implementation of its space missions has been carried out in line with China's projects, striving to surpass China.
This successful test of the "Gaganyan" spacecraft made many Indian people cheer. During this time, China happened to successfully launch the Shenzhou 17 manned spacecraft and the Shenzhou 16 manned spacecraft. As a result, many people have compared the manned space programs of the two countries, and some even believe that India will soon surpass China in the development of manned spaceflight.
The Shenzhou 16 ship and arrow assembly in transit.
India's recent manned space program is to use the "Gaganyan" spacecraft to send three astronauts to an orbit about 400 kilometers above the ground, fly for a period of time, and then return to Earth and land in the waters around India. The successful escape system test of the spacecraft is only a basic test item before the spacecraft is officially put into service.
From the point of view, the shell of the return capsule of India is completely painted and there is no trace of burning, which means that the spacecraft did not fly out of the atmosphere, but carried out a separation test at an altitude of 17 kilometers above the ground. This shows that the spacecraft is still in a relatively early stage of research and development, and there is still a gap between it and the real manned space flight. There are still a large number of technologies such as life support systems, high-temperature resistant materials, communication support, and first-class control to be verified and tested.
Astronauts of India.
China's achievements in the development of manned spaceflight have attracted worldwide attention, not only has its own space station completed the T-shaped configuration, but also achieved long-term retention of personnel. Many batches of astronauts have successfully soared into space; The practicability and reliability of the Shenzhou spacecraft and the Tianzhou spacecraft have been verified; The rapid docking technology and advanced technology of the spacecraft are also constantly improving. All these are proofs of the continuous development of China's aerospace industry. China's new generation of manned spacecraft and high-thrust rockets are about to debut, which will greatly improve the technical level of China's manned spaceflight.
At the present stage of development, the level of China's manned space flight is much higher than that of India, but it is undeniable that India's space industry has made significant achievements and is developing at an accelerated pace.
The neat Chinese Heavenly Palace.
The reason for the rapid development of India's space industry.
In 1969, India established the Space Research Organization, marking the official start of India's space industry. Up to now, India has developed a number of launch rockets, launched a considerable number of satellites, successfully carried out the exploration of the moon, the sun, and Mars, and will make great progress in the field of manned spaceflight. The main reasons why India has been able to make remarkable achievements in the fields of launch vehicles, artificial satellites, and space exploration are as follows:
First, the state attaches great importance to it. India believes that carrying out space activities is not only a promotion of scientific and technological innovation and development, but also a confirmation of India's status and strength as a great power, which will significantly enhance India's international status, and India has also made great achievements in the application of space technology. Therefore, India has strengthened its leadership over the aerospace industry and attached importance to its investment in the aerospace industry.
The Indian space manned capsule being hoisted.
After Modi came to power, India's comprehensive national strength continued to increase. India has stepped up its investment in the space sector and has established a huge space development program. India's near-term manned space program, for example, will cost 902300 million Indian rupees, or about 10$800 million. The state's attention has also attracted the vast number of private enterprises to invest in the space program. At present, there are more than 150 private companies involved in India's space program.
Second, it is based on India's national conditions. In developing its space industry, India has also attached great importance to basing itself on its own realities and proceeding from practicality. Because India's national strength is limited after all, the development of space engineering costs a huge amount of money, and India's domestic development is also facing problems such as a large gap between the rich and the poor and uneven development, its overall investment in space engineering cannot be compared with that of China and the United States and other countries.
In developing its space program, India attaches great importance to practicality. The limited funds will be invested in the development of remote sensing satellites and communication satellites that have a direct role in promoting the development of the national economy, and then expand and develop other types. In addition, when India developed satellites, it first developed civilian satellites, and on this basis, it developed military satellites, and many satellites have dual-use functions, which effectively improves the efficiency of the use of funds.
India aspires to be a space power.
Third, we need to carry out extensive international cooperation. Benefiting from India's relaxed international environment, India has actively carried out international cooperation and introduced key technologies and concepts on the basis of adhering to independent development, which has effectively improved India's aerospace level. The Indian space agencies and the space agencies of the United States, Russia, France, Japan and other countries have carried out in-depth technical and project cooperation. When India first began its space tests, the rockets used were basically provided by the United States. Later, the former Soviet Union supplied rockets and related equipment to India. The Chandrayaan-4 spacecraft project, which is now under development, was developed in cooperation between India and Japan.
It can be seen from this that there is still a certain gap between India's aerospace level and China's, but India has also made considerable achievements and unique development achievements in some fields. India's space program will continue to make progress in the future, but it is unrealistic to surpass China in the short term.