India to become self-reliant in space; to launch Gaganyaan, space station: PM Modi

New Delhi: India is working towards becoming self-reliant in the space sector and preparing for the launch of Gaganyaan, its indigenous human space flight mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.

Addressing the 79th Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort, he said India was also developing its own space station and recalled that Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned from a space mission.

"Our Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned from the space station. In the coming days, he is returning to India," Modi said.

The prime minister said it was a matter of pride that India has been making strides in the space sector and 300 start-ups were working only in this sector. "This is the strength of the youth of the country and our confidence in them," Modi said.

ISRO is working on India's first indigenous human spaceflight mission -- Gaganyaan -- which is expected to be launched in 2027.

The first module of India's own space station is planned for launch in 2028 and a full-fledged Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035.

Shukla was part of the Axiom-4 private space mission that lifted off from Florida on June 25 and docked at the International Space Station on June 26. He returned to Earth on July 15.

Along with three other astronauts -- Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary) -- Shukla conducted over 60 experiments and 20 outreach sessions during the 18-day mission.