India sets sights on a Moon landing in 2040, but is it realistic?

Enlarge / A view of the Moon from Chandrayaan 3 before landing. (credit: ISRO)

In recent years the nation of India has embraced spaceflight as a means of establishing itself as a major geopolitical player. The Soviet Union and United States, of course, pioneered the use of space exploration to exercise soft power in the 1960s during the Cold War. More recently China has used its various space missions, both human and scientific, to bolster its international prestige.

And now India is seeking to do the same. Spaceflight not only helps out on the international stage, but domestically as well. After the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft made a soft landing on the Moon in August, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was able to bask in the reflected glory of the nation's space agency, ISRO. Modi also previously set into motion the Gaganyaan program to launch the country's first astronauts from its own soil.

With that milestone now possibly set to occur in 2025, Modi has set his sights higher and farther. After a high-level meeting this week to assess progress on the Gaganyaan mission, Modi's office released a statement outlining the country's ambitions in space over the next two decades.