What is a space station that India will set up by 2035? Which countries have one?

After the success of Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission, India has set itself a lofty new goal – having a space station by 2035. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spelled out the ambitious goal for the Indian Space Research Organisation. Modi gave his directions during a briefing by ISRO chairman S Somanath on the Gaganyaan mission. But what is a space station? Which countries have one? Let’s take a closer look: What is it? As per Britannica, a space station is an artificial structure that is sent to orbit and which remains there. A space station has all the necessary equipment to sustain human life for long periods of time. This includes a pressurised enclosure, power, and environmental systems. A number of activities can be conducting on a space station including observing objects in space, planets such as the Sun and the Moon, studying Earth and examining the long-term effects of space on the human body. Smaller space stations are usually assembled into one piece and then launched into orbit. However, larger space stations are usually sent piecemeal and then assembled in orbit.

It is usually sent into orbit vacant with its crew and equipment reaching in separate spacecraft.

They thus need a conveyance system for crew and hardware and to restock items such as propellant, air, water, and food. Space stations usually run on a combination of solar panels and batteries. NASA explained the importance of space stations thus: “The space station has made it possible for people to have an ongoing presence in space. Human beings have been living in space every day since the first crew arrived.” It added that a space station allows crew to conduct research that benefits mankind which cannot be conducted anywhere on Earth. The fruits of such research are labelled “spinoffs.” “Scientists also study what happens to the body when people live in microgravity for a long time. NASA and its partners have learned how to keep a spacecraft working well. All of these lessons will be important for future space exploration,” the NASA website states. Which countries have a space station? China is the only country with a space station as of now. Beijing’s self-built Tiangong Space Station – known as “Celestial Palace” or “Heavenly Palace” –  has been fully operational since late 2022. It currently hosts three astronauts – two men and one woman – and sits at an orbital altitude of up to 450 kilometres.

China in November 2022 docked its third and final module with the Tiangong.

Mengtian, or “Celestial Dream,” joined Wentian or “Quest for the Heavens” as the second laboratory module for the Tiangong Space Station. Both are connected to the Tianhe core module where its crew lives and works. In all, the station will have about 110 cubic meters (3,880 cubic feet) of pressurized interior space, including the 32 cubic meters (1,130 cubic feet) added by Mengtian. [caption id=“attachment_13262472” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Beijing’s self-built Tiangong Space Station – known as “Celestial Palace” or “Heavenly Palace” –  has been fully operational since late 2022.[/caption] China in 2023 plans to launch the Xuntian space telescope, which, while not a part of Tiangong, will orbit in sequence with the station and can dock occasionally with it for maintenance. No other future additions to the space station have been publicly announced. As per BBC, China previously put two ‘temporary space stations’ into orbit –Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2. Tiangong has become an emblem of China’s growing clout and confidence in its space endeavours, and a challenger to the United States in the domain after being isolated from the ISS. It is banned by US law from any collaboration, direct or indirect, with NASA. Arguably the most famous space station in history is the International Space Station (ISS) – which is a collaboration between over a dozen countries. It is jointly run by the European Space Agency, NASA, Russia, Canada and Japan.

The ISS, which launched its first module in 1998, weighs around 465 tons.

Orbiting around 400 kilometres above the Earth, it remains the largest human structure ever placed in space and can hold a crew of seven astronauts. To put it in perspective, Tiangong is still just 40 per cent of the mass of the ISS. As per Foxweather.com, work on the ISS began in 1998 with Russia’s first agency sent its first module called Zarya or “Sunrise” into orbit. Zarya was a temporary control centre. Then, NASA launched its Node 1 module via the Space Shuttle Endeavour. As per NASA, the first crew arrived at the ISS on 2 November 2000. But putting the ISS together took more than a decade and over 30 missions. Work on the ISS was only completed in 2011. It circles the Earth every 90 minutes at a speed of 28,163 kilometres per hour. As per Space.com, its solar panels alone cover one acre. It weighs a mammoth 419,725 kilograms on its own. It offers its crew 13,696 cubic feet of habitable space with seven sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym – and a magnificent 360-degree-view bay window of the Earth. ISS crew are guided by mission control in Houston and Moscow. A payload control center in Huntsville, Alabama also provides support. Mission control centres in Japan, Canada and Europe also provide assistance. The ISS can be seen by the naked eye. Astronauts aboard the ISS must work out for at least two hours a day to counter the effects of space on the human body. Sadly, the ISS is nearing the end of its lifespan – it is likely to be decommissioned after 2030. The ISS will either be deorbited, or recycled for future commercial space stations, as per Space.com. Which means with its lifespan of 10 to 15 years, Tiangong could soon find itself the only space station still running by 2030/ Chinese state media said last year as Tiangong became fully operational that China would be no “slouch” as the ISS headed toward retirement, adding that “several countries” had asked to send their astronauts to the Chinese station. China built its own station after it was excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to US objections over the Chinese space programs’ intimate ties to the People’s Liberation Army, the military wing of the ruling Communist Party. But in a blow to China’s aspirations for space diplomacy, the European Space Agency (ESA) said this year it did not have the budgetary or “political” green light to participate in Tiangong, shelving a years-long plan for a visit by European astronauts. China in 2003 became the third government to send an astronaut into orbit on its own after the former Soviet Union and the United States. It conducted its first spacewalk in September 2008 and the tempo of such activities has increased since the launch of the Tianhe module in 2021. However, Russia, which has already announced its withdrawal from the ISS in 2024, is also planning to get in on the act. Moscow has suggested that its partners in the BRICS group,  Brazil, India, China and South Africa, could construct a module for its space station. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said last year it was planning to build a space station comprising six modules that could accommodate up to four cosmonauts. ‘India first human space flight in 2025’ India’s first human space flight is now expected to take off in 2025, a PMO statement said after the meeting. During the meeting, the Prime Minister outlined the future of India’s space exploration endeavours and urged scientists to work towards interplanetary missions, including a Venus Orbiter Mission and a Mars Lander and also explore the moon in greater detail. [caption id=“attachment_13262492” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tasked ISRO with setting up an Indian space station by 2035. Wikimedia Commons[/caption] “Building on the success of Indian space initiatives, including the recent Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L1 missions, the Prime Minister directed that India should now aim for new and ambitious goals, including setting up the ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ (Indian space station) by 2035 and sending first Indian to the Moon by 2040,” the statement said.

To realise this vision, the Department of Space will develop a roadmap for Moon exploration, it said.

ISRO’s moon exploration plans will comprise a series of Chandrayaan missions, developing a new rocket the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), building a new launchpad and setting up human-centric Laboratories and associated technologies. The Department of Space presented a comprehensive overview of the Gaganyaan Mission, including various technologies developed so far such as human-rated launch vehicles and system qualification. It was noted that around 20 major tests, including three uncrewed missions of the Human Rated Launch Vehicle (HLVM3) are planned. Prime Minister Modi expressed confidence in India’s capabilities and affirmed the nation’s commitment to scaling new heights in space exploration. The Gaganyaan mission, which entails sending two astronauts to low earth orbit, was originally planned for launch in 2022. However, the Covid pandemic and the complexity of the mission led to delays and the first human space flight was expected to take place in the second half of 2024. From Tuesday’s meeting, it has emerged that the Gaganyaan launch will now take place in 2025. Besides Somanath, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister  PK Mishra and other officials were present during the meeting. The meeting chaired by the Prime Minister came after India’s successful soft landing near the unexplored south pole of the moon on 23 August. Within 10 days of the lunar landing on 2 September, India launched a spacecraft to study the Sun from a place called the Lagrange Point (L1), situated about 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth. The Aditya L-1 mission will study the solar atmosphere, solar magnetic storms, and their impact on the environment around the Earth. With inputs from agencies