Siliguri (West Bengal): Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Sreedhara Panicker Somanath attended a programme at a school on Sunday and said that the space agency aims to explore human space flight activities and build space stations.

While speaking with the reporters, Sreedhara Panicker Somanath lauded the Chandrayaan Mission and said, "I would like to say today, after the successful Chandrayan Mission, the world is looking at us. We have announced Space Act Reforms in 2020 and there is a new Indian Space Policy 2023 by the government which has enabled private companies and institutions to come and work together."

He further added, "We are looking at a substantial growth in the space activity in private but more than that, there are institutional works which are happening. There is a new vision that has been put forward by the government in terms of what we want to do in the space sector in future."

The ISRO Chairman called the vision exciting and said, "And all of that is very exciting. We can explore human space flight activities, moon and other planets, and build space stations.

He added, "We also want to do a lot of economic activities in the space sector to create job, industries, and startups in the country."

On being asked about the Prime Minister's vision to send an astronaut to the moon by 2040, Somanath said, "It's already there in the announcement."

As per ISRO, the Government of India unleashed reforms in the space domain in 2020, opening the doors for enhanced participation of Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs) in carrying out end-to-end activities in the space domain and providing them a level playing field.

Subsequent to these reforms, the Government sought to provide regulatory certainty for space activities by various stakeholders, to create a thriving space ecosystem.

The Indian Space Policy - 2023 was thus formulated as an overarching, composite and dynamic framework to implement the reform vision approved by Cabinet.