India’s Space Programme

From the lunar surface to the International Space Station, India’s strides in space are reshaping identity, policy, and aspiration.

Historic Milestones in India’s Space Journey

• India’s Lunar (Chandrayaan) Program:
• • Chandrayaan-1 (2008): India’s first lunar mission. Its orbiter and Moon Impact Probe (MIP) helped confirm the discovery of water/hydroxyl molecules on the Moon. 
    • It stopped communicating in 2009.
  • Chandrayaan-2 (2019): Composite lunar mission launched with orbiter, lander (Vikram), and rover (Pragyan).  The orbiter succeeded and is still operational, but the lander crashed during its descent to the surface.
• Chandrayaan-3 (2023): A follow-on mission focused on demonstrating a safe soft landing and roving. 
  • It successfully landed near the lunar south pole on August 23, 2023, deploying the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover.
• Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter Mission-2014): India reached Mars orbit on its first attempt, becoming the first Asian nation to do so.
• Indian Astronaut on ISS (2025): Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla flew to the International Space Station on Axiom Mission 4 (launched June 2025), conducting experiments and gaining experience for India’s human spaceflight programme.
• SpaDeX: Orbital Docking Success (2025): ISRO demonstrated autonomous spacecraft docking, joining an elite group of nations (US, Russia, China).
• NISAR: Joint NASA-ISRO Earth observation satellite launched (July 2025), now in science phase.
• Aditya-L1 (2023): Studying the sun’s corona and space weather. 
  • Positioned at the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1), it provides uninterrupted observations of the Sun, advancing our understanding of solar activities and space weather.
• XPoSat (2024): XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite) is India’s first dedicated astronomy mission to study the polarisation of cosmic X-rays.

Upcoming Goals of ISRO

• Gaganyaan Programme: India’s first indigenous human spaceflight, targeted for 2027.
• Shukrayaan: Venus Orbiter Mission (2028).
• Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS): Indian space station by 2035.
• Indian Human on the Moon: Goal set for 2040.

Future Lunar Missions

• Chandrayaan-4: It is a Lunar sample return mission planned for 2027-2028.
  • Key Objective: Land near the south pole, collect ~3 kg of surface and subsurface soil/rock, and bring it back to Earth for analysis.
  • Major Technology Firsts: First Indian mission to demonstrate Earth and lunar orbit docking, ascent from the Moon, and safe Earth re-entry with samples.
• Chandrayaan-5 (LUPEX): It is a Lunar polar exploration mission with both lander and rover slated for 2028-2029.
  • Key Objective: In-situ study of water ice and volatiles in a Permanently Shadowed Region (PSR) near the south pole.
  • International Collaboration: Major joint mission with JAXA (Japan).

International Cooperation in Space Sector

• South Asia Satellite: Provides communication capacity to neighbours in South Asia. 
• G20 Satellite (2023): For climate/environment monitoring, data shared globally.
• Joint Missions: NISAR (with NASA), TRISHNA (with CNES, France), LUPEX (with JAXA, Japan), Proba-3 (with European Space Agency).
• Guided by the ethos of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (the world is one family).

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