A GSLV rocket, carrying ISRO’s Earth observation satellite EOS-05, lifted off from the spaceport in a pre-dawn mission on Friday (September 4, 2026).

The 51.7 metre tall GSLV-F17 blasted off from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, about 135 km from Chennai, at a prefixed time of 2.55 am, lighting up the dark skies amid rains.

The state-of-the-art Earth observation spacecraft will be India’s first ever imaging satellite from the Geosynchronous orbit, official sources said.

The rocket blasted off at the end of the 27-hour countdown that started at 23.30 hours on Wednesday.

Recent reports of nearly 120 scientists resigning from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have rightly raised concerns. ISRO has been a symbol of India’s scientific aspirations and such an exodus cannot be dismissed as an ordinary episode of employee turnover.

Resignations have occurred over the years but the scale of recent departures confronts us with the question: of why some of India’s brighter scientific minds are electing to leave institutions millions dream of joining.

From a small launch pad, the 715-kg Nike Apache rocket rose 208 km into the sky.

The sight fascinated thousands of people in the area, which even motivated some of them to join the Indian Space Research Organisation. The Nike Apache launch was an international effort under the United Nations.

The launch took place in the presence of legends such as Vikram Sarabhai, father of the Indian space programme, E.V. Chitnis, P.D. Bhavsar, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam among others.

On February 22nd, 1969, India launched its first truly indigenous rocket.The rocket carried a few kilograms of solid propellants and rose a few kilometres into the air.

Vasant Gowariker, who later became the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said it was “a pencil-sized rocket”.

On July 18th, 1980, India became part of a select club of nations to put their satellites into orbit using their own launch vehicles with its SLV-3 rocket launch.

Though ISRO has had its share of failures, today, India is an influential spacefaring nation.

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Script: T.S Subramanian

Production and Voiceover: Yuvasree S

As the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is in the news for issuing a memorandum aimed at deterring scientists and engineers attached to important missions from quitting, the space agency, in fact, is reliving a nightmare from the 1990s.

This is perhaps the second time in its history that ISRO is faced with the task of containing mass exits. The first instance was in the early 1990s, when the information technology (IT) boom and campus recruitments dealt a blow to ISRO which was then on an expansion mode.

“Nobody could anticipate it. It was a big crisis back then. Many senior hands left ISRO for the IT sector,” recalls E.K. Kutty, who retired in 2005 as Director (Programme Planning and Personnel Policy) from the ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru.

In his book

Mr. Kutty, who now heads the UL Space Club, which he founded and mentors, has even recounted the ordeal that ISRO went through in his August 2025 book ISROyile Kuttikkaalam (Mathrubhumi Books).

“It is notable that ISRO’s practice of acquiring the finest talent in the country faced a stiff challenge in the last decade of the 20th century. A first-class rival arrived on stage to lure brilliant engineers in the 22-24 age bracket who used to queue up to join ISRO—the private IT sector,” Mr. Kutty wrote in the Malayalam book.

It was the time when Bengaluru was fast metamorphosising into India’s IT hub. Companies such as Infosys, HCL and Wipro were making major strides in the sector. At ISRO, the 1990s were the time when the space agency also was expanding, with work on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and satellites at critical junctures. On the hiring front, the biggest headache for ISRO was that its own process could not hope to match the brisk campus recruitment model that the IT sector adopted.

Recruitment process

“Being a government system, public advertisements were mandatory as all Indian nationals were to be given equal opportunity. The entire recruitment process could take about eight to nine months,” recalls Mr. Kutty. By then, the ‘best brains’ would have been absorbed by the private companies. Centralised recruitment to science/technology branches was a major change introduced by ISRO back then to handle this crisis. Such measures eventually led to the establishment of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) in Thiruvananthapuram in 2007.

Resignations and voluntary retirements in ISRO are in the news now with the space agency asking its centre directors and unit heads not to accept requests, especially from hands involved in missions such as Gaganyaan, “as a matter of routine.”

The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) replicates the earth’s atmosphere in earth orbit by managing air, water, temperature, and waste. In short-term space missions, all supplies are carried from the earth and waste is stored for disposal later. Long-duration missions recycle the waste back into useful resources like breathable air and clean water.

What is air revitalisation?

Carbon dioxide is removed from the earth’s atmosphere by photosynthesis and by dissolving in the oceans. In Gaganyaan (the Indian Space Research Organisation mission to place a small crew of Indian astronauts in a 400 km orbit around the earth), astronauts’ exhalation will increase the cabin’s carbon dioxide content and has to be artificially removed. Elevated levels of carbon dioxide can lead to hypercapnia, causing symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and impaired cognitive function.

A healthy adult normally exhales around 1 kg of carbon dioxide per day, though this amount increases significantly with physical exertion. The air revitalisation system (ARS) provides fresh air, removes carbon dioxide, and filters trace contaminants or odours that would otherwise accumulate in the cabin. For short missions, oxygen is supplied from high-pressure gas bottles. According to standards, a healthy crew member needs 0.84 kg of oxygen per day to support metabolic functions.

Carbon dioxide is removed using lithium hydroxide canisters. Each canister has activated charcoal that absorbs any odours in the cabin air. A spent canister is replaced by the crew with a fresh one typically every 20-24 hours. In a microgravity environment lacking natural convection, small fans in the ECLSS are the circulatory system that prevents lethal carbon dioxide and hazardous oxygen pockets from lingering.

How are pressure, temperature and humidity controlled?

The Gaganyaan crew module is designed to maintain a comfortable environment with a temperature of 20-26°C and relative humidity between 30% and 70% to ensure crew comfort and equipment safety. The moisture released through the crews’ breath and sweat are the main sources of humidity in the cabin.

Low humidity in the crew cabin can lead to dry skin, irritated eyes, and higher risk of static electricity discharge that could damage electronics. High humidity promotes microbial growth and causes condensation that may lead to short-circuits or corrosion.

Heat in the crew module is primarily generated by the metabolic body heat of the astronauts (100 to 150 W per crew) and continuously operating onboard electronics and avionics. An active cooling system is used to regulate temperature. Heat is removed by circulating the air through heat exchangers, which will expel the heat into space. The humidity is managed by condensing units that collect water to prevent fogging and short-circuits.

The pressure is held at 101.3 kPa. To mimic the earth’s sea-level conditions, the pressure control system uses electronic sensors and safety valves to balance the air and oxygen levels.

Where does water come from?

The primary challenge in space is water doesn’t ‘pour’ but forms floating globules that can cause short-circuits in electronics or pose a hazard if inhaled accidentally. So water must be mechanically forced from storage using pressurised bladders to avoid gas-liquid mixing.

In Gaganyaan, the crew relies on supply of potable water stored in specially designed pouches. They can be pressed to force water directly into the mouth.

How is waste managed?

In microgravity, liquid and solid waste do not “fall”, requiring suction-based airflow systems to pull waste away from the body and prevent it from floating around. These systems must also separate and stabilise waste to avoid microbial contamination and the buildup of toxic gases like ammonia.

In Gaganyaan, specialised faecal collection bags will be used and urine will be sucked through funnels. All waste will be chemically treated to neutralise odours and inhibit bacterial growth, then stored in sealed containers for disposal after return.

How are fires suppressed?

The lack of gravity allows fires to expand into a sphere that is harder to reach with traditional suppressants. In Gaganyaan, smoke detectors will sound an alarm to alert the crew. Fire extinguishers that create fine water mists can be used to put the fire out. A water mist effectively cools the fire and also scrubs toxic smoke particles.

Russia’s Soyuz has the option to depressurise the cabin as a last resort to extinguish the fire after the crew has worn a pressure suit.

(Unnikrishnan Nair S. is Former Director, VSSC and IIST; Founding Director, HSFC; and an expert in launch vehicle systems, orbital re-entry and human spaceflight technologies. He is currently working as Dr Sarabhai Professor at VSSC)

On April 10, the Orion crew capsule of the Artemis II mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of San Diego, at the end of a 10-day mission that carried four astronauts around the moon and back. The crew — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — travelled farther from the Earth than any humans in recorded history. According to messages relayed from the astronauts, the Artemis II mission went according to plan.

India stands to become the fourth nation worldwide to launch its own crewed spacecraft, after the Soviet Union, the U.S., and China. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said it will announce the date for the first uncrewed test flight, designated G1, in the coming week.

V. Narayanan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on Saturday described the Artemis II mission of US’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as “a great effort” and expressed confidence that it will lead to future human landings on the moon.

“I’m 100% sure that this mission will be a grand success, leading towards later landings on the moon,” Dr. Narayanan said of NASA’s first crewed lunar flyby in 50 years.

Dr. Narayanan was speaking to reporters after receiving the K.P.P. Nambiar Award 2025 instituted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Kerala section.

Recalling the past human landings on the moon, Dr. Narayanan said the Artemis programme was a step towards repeating the feat.

In his award acceptance speech, Dr. Narayanan said ISRO was learning from the twin “setbacks” of the Polar satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) missions and would have everything back on track.

He said that by 2040, the nation’s space activities will be on a par with any other country in terms of launcher and spacecraft technologies, applications  and infrastructure.

“Multiple programmes” were currently underway, including the Gaganyaan programme and the Bharatiya Antariksh Station project. For a country that started its space programme in the 1960s at “LKG level” when other countries were putting humans into space and the moon, India’s space programme has grown exponentially, he said. Dr. Narayanan also underscored the need to increase the number of satellite launches to meet the nation’s requirements. Today, more than 400 startups are also working in the space sector, he pointed out.

He dedicated the  K.P.P. Nambiar Award to the pace community of India.

Rajalakshmi Menon, Director General (Aero), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) received IEEE’s Outstanding Woman Engineer Award. IEEE Kerala chapter office bearers B.S. Manoj and Chinmoy Saha also spoke.