The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday unveiled a 3.8-meter by 8-meter BAS-01 module model of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) at Bharat Mandapam.
The unveiling took place as part of the two-day National Space Day celebrations in New Delhi. It is the first component of India’s Bharatiya Antariksh Station.
The maiden module of its home-grown space station is set to lift off in 2028, marking the start of India’s own space station.
With this move, India would join the exclusive club of nations that operate space laboratories in orbit, showcasing its growing capabilities in human spaceflight and space infrastructure. By 2035, India aims to expand the station to five modules.
Currently, there are only two orbital laboratories. The International Space Station, operated by five space agencies, and China’s Tiangong space station.
The unveiled BAS-01 module weighs approximately 10 tonnes. BAS-01 will orbit Earth at an altitude of 450 kilometers and is packed with indigenous systems that showcase India’s growing space engineering prowess.
The Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) is being designed as a next-generation modular space station with advanced capabilities to support long-duration missions and ensure crew safety.
In addition to its core systems, BAS will include refilling capabilities for propulsion and ECLSS fluids to enable extended operations, radiation shielding and thermal control systems for crew protection in harsh space environments and Micro Meteoroid Orbital Debris (MMOD) protection to guard against space debris impacts.
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Besides, it will also include space suits and airlocks to support extravehicular activity (EVA), allowing astronauts to conduct spacewalks, plug-and-play integrated avionics, enabling flexible module upgrades and system scalability.
