India to join ranks of leading spacefaring nations by 2040: ISRO Chief

NEW DELHI: V Narayanan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on Wednesday said that India is poised to stand with the developed spacefaring nations by 2040, with plans underway to achieve parity in launcher capabilities.

Addressing the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025 in national capital, ISRO Chief said, “By 2040, India will be in par with any other developed spacefaring nation in terms of launcher capability in terms of satellite capability, in terms of scientific missions, in terms of ground equipment.”
He credited the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing vision and direction.

Addressing the audience Narayanan traced India’s technological transformation since Independence.

“In 1947, we had only about 84,000 telephone lines for a population of 350 million. I come from a village in Kanyakumari district, and I still remember that even in the 1990s, there was no telephone connectivity for a 5 km radius,” he said, sharing a personal anecdote of being unable to contact his parents during his 10-month stay in Russia in 1993.

During the address, Narayanan emphasised how India’s communication revolution has been powered by its space program. From launching the first satellite Aryabhata in 1975 and demonstrating mass communication through a borrowed US satellite signal in the same year, India has scaled dramatically.

“Today, 85 per cent of households have smartphones. Almost all districts have got 5G coverage, almost 99.6 per cent,” he said.

Highlighting ISRO’s achievements, he noted that India now operates 18 communication satellites with 354 transponders and 73 Gbps of high-throughput capacity. The GSAT-11 satellite alone weighs 6,000 kg and continues to serve with high efficiency. He also noted the targeted efforts to ensure connectivity in the Northeastern region with dedicated spot beams.

Narayanan said ISRO’s contributions go beyond national interest. “We strongly believe in the growth of the global community. Last year alone, we launched 72 satellites through two missions. This month, we’ll launch another communication satellite,” he stated. (ANI)