Union Science and Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh on Monday, June 15, 2026, declared that India is targeting a crewed lunar landing by 2040 and emphasised that common citizens are active partners in the country's scientific journey, speaking at the #RISE_Conclave2026 in Bengaluru.

Context

Dr. Singh's remarks at the RISE Conclave 2026 in Bengaluru signal the government's intent to publicly anchor a long-range lunar ambition around a concrete year — 2040. The framing of 'common citizens as partners' reflects a deliberate effort to build broad societal ownership of what would be India's most ambitious space mission to date. The conclave brings together scientists, policymakers and industry stakeholders to chart the country's innovation and space trajectory.

India's space programme has historically been presented as a public good, and the minister's language reinforces that tradition while raising the stakes considerably with a crewed lunar goal.

Policy Backdrop

India's path to a crewed lunar landing runs through Gaganyaan, the country's first human spaceflight programme approved by the Union Cabinet in December 2018. Gaganyaan is designed to demonstrate India's capability to send astronauts into low-Earth orbit — a prerequisite for any deep-space human mission. Uncrewed test flights under the programme have been proceeding in stages, with the crewed orbital mission serving as the foundational step before lunar architecture can be formalised.

The lunar dimension of India's ambitions was sharpened dramatically by Chandrayaan-3, which achieved a historic soft landing near the lunar south pole in August 2023 — making India only the fourth country to land on the Moon and the first to do so at the south pole. That milestone established technical credibility and public momentum that now underpins the 2040 crewed goal.

IN-SPACe, established in 2020, has opened India's space sector to private firms, with the government positioning industry as a co-builder of future capabilities including launch vehicles, habitats and mission systems that a crewed lunar programme would require.

Stakeholders and Impact

ISRO scientists and engineers are the primary executors of any crewed lunar roadmap, but the minister's 'common citizens as partners' framing points to a wider stakeholder universe. Private space companies operating under IN-SPACe stand to benefit from long-duration mission contracts, while academic institutions and start-ups in the space-tech ecosystem could see increased funding and collaboration opportunities.

For the Indian public, a 2040 crewed Moon landing would represent a generational milestone — one that Dr. Singh appears to be framing as a shared national project rather than a purely governmental achievement. This positioning also serves to build sustained political and budgetary support across successive administrations through the decade.

What's Next

The immediate watchpoints are ISRO's budget allocations in coming parliamentary sessions and the sequencing of remaining Gaganyaan uncrewed test flights, which must succeed before any crewed orbital mission can proceed. A formal government announcement of a lunar crewed architecture — including mission design, crew selection criteria and international partnerships — has not yet been made public.

As global competition for lunar presence intensifies among the United States, China and their respective partners, India's 2040 target positions it as an independent pole in the emerging lunar economy, with Bengaluru increasingly serving as the nerve centre of that ambition.