India’s First Space Station Is Taking Shape What Bharatiya Antariksh Station Means for the Country

India is moving toward a major new phase in human spaceflight: building and operating its own space station in low Earth orbit.

The planned Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) is targeted to become operational by 2035, with ISRO currently working toward a five-module configuration. The first module, BAS-01, is targeted for development and launch by 2028.

This is more than another launch milestone. A permanent Indian platform in orbit would give the country an infrastructure base for microgravity research, technology demonstrations and longer-duration human missions.

From a Fishing Village to an Orbital Laboratory

India’s space programme began under very different circumstances.

In the early years of the Indian space effort, launch infrastructure was being established at Thumba in Kerala, where scientists worked with extremely limited facilities. The country’s early sounding rockets and equipment were handled with remarkable simplicity compared with today’s sophisticated launch infrastructure.

More than six decades later, India is working on something fundamentally different: a permanently operated human spaceflight platform in orbit.

The transformation illustrates how India’s space programme has evolved from developing basic launch and satellite capabilities to building increasingly complex systems for human exploration.

What Is the Bharatiya Antariksh Station?

The Bharatiya Antariksh Station is India’s planned indigenous space station in low Earth orbit.

ISRO has worked out an overall configuration consisting of five modules, with the station planned to be assembled progressively rather than launched as one enormous structure. The Government has approved development and launch of the first module, BAS-01.

The station is expected to provide infrastructure for scientific experiments and technology demonstrations in microgravity. Research areas identified by the government include life sciences, medicine, materials science, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing technologies.

That makes BAS more than a destination for astronauts. It is intended to function as a laboratory and technology platform.

The First Module Is the Critical Step

The first major milestone is BAS-01.

The Union Cabinet approved the development and launch of the first module in September 2024. The government subsequently stated that the current approval covers the first module, with its development and launch estimated at approximately ₹1,763 crore over 2025–2028.

The broader revised Gaganyaan programme has a total funding provision of ₹20,193 crore, including precursor missions and activities associated with the space-station programme.

Importantly, the ₹20,193 crore figure should not be interpreted as the construction cost of only the space station. It is the revised funding provision for the expanded Gaganyaan programme and associated missions.

India Is Bringing Industry Into the Programme

One of the most significant aspects of BAS is the increasing role of India’s private aerospace sector.

In January 2026, ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre issued an Expression of Interest inviting qualified Indian aerospace industries to participate in the development and realisation of BAS-01 structures. The document calls for industry partners capable of handling complex aerospace manufacturing activities.

This reflects a broader change in India’s space ecosystem.

The country is no longer relying exclusively on government institutions for every stage of space hardware development. Private companies and start-ups are increasingly becoming part of the manufacturing, launch, satellite and technology ecosystem.

Skyroot Aerospace is one example of how dramatically this ecosystem has changed. In July 2026, its Vikram-I became the first privately developed Indian rocket to successfully reach orbit from Indian soil.

However, it is important to distinguish between India’s private-space ecosystem participating in the programme and claiming that a particular start-up has already been formally selected to build BAS modules unless an official award or contract confirms it.

Why a Space Station Matters to India

The biggest value of BAS may not be the station itself.

It is the scientific and technological capability that can develop around it.

Microgravity provides researchers with an environment that cannot be easily reproduced on Earth. Experiments involving biological systems, materials, fluids and manufacturing processes can behave differently when gravity is greatly reduced.

India has already begun preparing for this research ecosystem.

Through IMEx-2026, ISRO invited India’s research community to propose microgravity experiments that could potentially receive support for future flight opportunities, including experiments aboard the Bharatiya Antariksh Station.

This creates a pathway connecting universities, laboratories, researchers and India’s human-spaceflight programme.

A Platform for Longer Human Missions

Building a space station also requires technologies that are considerably more demanding than those needed for short-duration missions.

ISRO and its partners need capabilities for life support, crew habitation, docking, robotics, power management, thermal control, communications and orbital operations.

Government documents identify technologies such as rendezvous and docking, robotics, in-orbit refuelling, crew quarters and microgravity experiment racks among the major technology goals associated with BAS.

These technologies will also be useful beyond the station.

They can support India’s longer-term ambitions for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit, including the country’s planned human lunar exploration roadmap.

BAS Is Part of a Much Larger Space Vision

The space station does not exist as an isolated project.

India’s Space Vision 2047 includes several major objectives, including the Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035 and an Indian crewed lunar landing targeted for 2040.

The development of the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) is also connected to this broader ambition. The planned vehicle is intended to provide significantly greater payload capability than India’s current launch systems and is being developed with increased industry participation.

Together, these projects represent a shift from individual missions toward building a sustained human-spaceflight architecture.

From Visiting Space to Building Infrastructure in Space

India has already demonstrated that it can send spacecraft to the Moon, Mars and other destinations.

A space station represents a different challenge.

A planetary mission can be designed around a specific launch, journey and destination. A space station has to operate continuously. Its systems must support humans, experiments and spacecraft for years.

That requires reliability at an entirely different level.

The station also has to be assembled progressively in orbit, making docking and orbital operations critical parts of the programme.

The Road to 2035

The current roadmap is phased.

2028: Development and launch of the first BAS module is targeted.

2028–2035: Additional modules, technologies and supporting capabilities are expected to be developed and integrated.

2035: The government has set the target for operationalising the five-module Bharatiya Antariksh Station.

The exact final architecture can continue to evolve as development progresses. ISRO has previously noted that station configuration, modules and docking arrangements were still under study, so specific technical details should not be treated as permanently fixed until officially confirmed.

India’s Space Programme Is Entering a New Era

The most remarkable part of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station story is the change in scale.

India’s early space programme was built around developing basic national capabilities with limited resources. Today, the country is developing human-rated launch systems, orbital infrastructure, microgravity research programmes, advanced spacecraft technologies and a growing private aerospace ecosystem.

The Bharatiya Antariksh Station could become the point where many of these capabilities converge.

By the time the station is fully operational, India’s objective will no longer simply be to reach space.

It will be to stay, research and build capability in space.

That is a considerably bigger ambition.