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.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for cooperation in space medicine and research.

According to ISRO, the MoU aims to promote joint research aligned with ISRO’s priority areas, with a shared objective of advancing human health, performance and safety during human space missions.

ISRO said that long duration human space missions such as Bharatiya Antariksh Station and crewed missions to Moon offer unique medical challenges due to the extreme space environment and microgravity.

“This cooperation is targeted to conduct ground and space-based studies to develop multidisciplinary space medicine expertise, medical devices, procedure and protocols to maintain human health and performance under extreme space environments as well as advance healthcare for the nation,” the space agency said.

It added that focused research and developments are planned in the fields of human physiology, behavioural health, immunology and gut microbiome, biomedical, neuroscience and neurophysiology, nutrition and metabolic health, musculoskeletal atrophy and aging in microgravity, infectious diseases control and countermeasures for improving human health and performance in space environment.

“Through this research collaboration, ISRO and AIIMS reaffirm their commitment to advancing space medicine, fostering interdisciplinary research and building long-term institutional cooperation to support India’s human space flight programme initiatives and it will also spur new innovations and creates new opportunities for the scientific community in the country,” the space agency said.

Sea level test of cryogenic engine

ISRO successfully conducted a sea level hot test of its cryogenic engine (CE20) at 22 tonne thrust using nozzle protection system and multi-element igniter on March 10 at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri in Odisha.

Earlier, the sea level tests utilizing nozzle protection systems were being carried out at 19 tonne thrust level. The CE20 cryogenic engine powers the upper cryogenic stage of the LVM3 launch vehicle.

After nearly a year’s delay, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) made public the report of a committee constituted to analyse why the NVS-02 satellite, which was launched aboard a GSLV rocket on January 29 last year, couldn’t be placed in its intended orbit.

The apex committee, as it is called, concluded that the main reason for what happened was that the signal meant to activate a key valve in the engine’s oxidiser line never reached it. This valve is crucial for firing the engine to raise the spacecraft’s orbit.

The committee said the most likely explanation was that at least one connection in the electrical connector — in both the primary and backup lines — came loose or failed, preventing the signal from getting through.

NVS-02, the second spacecraft in the NVS series, was placed successfully into an ‘elliptical transfer’ orbit on January 29, 2025 at 00:53 UT but its subsequent transfer to a circular orbit was unsuccessful. This was also a special occasion being the 100th launch from the Sriharikota launchpad. The spacecraft was separated from the launch vehicle (GSLVF15) following which a series of autonomous activities on the satellite were carried out, including deploying the solar panel and stabilising the orientation for power generation.

The NVS-02 was to be the second satellite in the NVS series, and part of India’s Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC).

Also Read | ISRO successfully launches NVS-02 satellite; creates history with the 100th launch from Sriharikota

‘Performed satisfactorily’

The committee, an ISRO statement said, gave a set of recommendations to “enhance” the redundancy and reliability of pyro system operations for future missions. These were “successfully implemented in CMS-03 spacecraft launched on November 2, 2025 by LVM-3 M5, and the pyro systems performed satisfactorily placing the satellite in the intended orbit.”

The CMS-03, or GSAT-7R, is an indigenously designed and developed satellite, weighing approximately 4,400 kg — India’s heaviest communication satellite — and is critical to the Navy’s space-based communications and maritime domain awareness.

The Hindu reported this week that a committee that includes K. Vijayraghavan, former Principal Scientific Adviser, and S. Somanath, former Chairman, ISRO, will probe “systemic issues” underlying the successive failures of ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has conducted the testing of a sub-scale thrust chamber for LOX-Methane Engine which would be inducted in the next generation of launch vehicles.

The test was conducted at the Thrust Chamber Test facility at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri on January 27, 2026.

“The sub-scale thrust chamber and single element injector head were successfully tested to a chamber pressure of 56 bar. The sub-scale thrust chamber and single element injector head were realised through additive manufacturing. Ignition and flame sustenance inside the thrust chamber were achieved and performance of all systems were normal,” ISRO said.

It added that the test article will be further used to select the optimal injector configuration through a series of further hot tests.

The space agency said that the development of the essential engine subsystems is progressing at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of ISRO and the testing of these subsystems at a smaller scale (sub-scale) has commenced.

“An optimally designed thrust chamber with injector head is key to the success of any cryogenic engine. ISRO has successfully conducted the first hot test of the high thrust LOX-Methane Engine at thrust chamber level with a single element injector,” ISRO said.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday (January 10, 2026) said its Aditya-L1 solar mission has provided new insights into how a powerful solar storm can impact Earth’s magnetic shield.

“The most severe effects occurred during the impact of the turbulent region of the solar storm,” the space agency said in a statement.

In a breakthrough study published in The Astrophysical Journal in December 2025, ISRO scientists and research students analysed a major space weather event that struck Earth in October 2024.

Decoding solar plasma

The study used observations from Aditya-L1, India’s first solar observatory, along with data from other international space missions to decode the impact of a massive eruption of solar plasma from the Sun.

“Space weather refers to conditions in space caused by transient activity on the Sun, such as solar plasma eruptions, which can affect satellites, communication and navigation services, and power grid infrastructure on Earth,” the statement said.

According to ISRO, the turbulent region of the solar storm “strongly compressed Earth’s magnetic field, pushing it unusually close to the Earth and briefly exposing some satellites in geostationary orbit to harsh space conditions.”

The space agency noted that this phenomenon occurs only during severe space weather events.

The study also revealed that during the turbulent phase, currents in the auroral region (high latitudes) super-intensified, a process that could heat the upper atmosphere and lead to enhanced atmospheric escape.

ISRO said the findings reinforce the need for close monitoring of solar activity, noting that the study highlights the importance of understanding of space weather phenomena and their real-time assessments to safeguard the critical space assets.

The 24-hour countdown for the launch of LVM3-M6 rocket, which will carry a new generation U.S. communication satellite commenced in Sriharikota on Tuesday (December 23, 2025), ISRO said.

In a dedicated commercial mission, ISRO is scheduled to launch the Bluebird Block-2 spacecraft on board its heavy lift launch vehicle LVM3-M6 at 8.54 a.m. from the second launch pad at this spaceport on Wednesday (December 24, 2025).

Weighing 6,100 kg, the communication satellite would be the heaviest payload to be placed into the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in LVM3 launch history, the ISRO said.

The previous heaviest was the LVM3-M5 Communication Satellite 03, weighing about 4,400 kg that was successfully launched by ISRO on November 2.

Wednesday’s (December 24, 2025) mission is being undertaken as part of the commercial agreement signed between NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) and US-based AST SpaceMobile (AST and Science, LLC). NewSpace India Ltd is the commercial arm of ISRO.

The historic mission would deploy the next generation communication satellite designed to provide high-speed cellular broadband directly to smartphones worldwide.

AST SpaceMobile is building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network, which is accessible directly by smartphones and designed for both commercial and government applications.

Ahead of the launch, ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan offered prayers at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirumala on December 23.

According to the Indian space agency, the 43.5 metre tall LVM3, also known as Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MkIII, is a three stage rocket with a cryogenic engine designed and developed by ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.

The vehicle uses two S200 solid rocket boosters to provide the huge amount of thrust required for lift off. The booster has been developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

After a flight of about 15 minutes from liftoff, the Bluebird Block-2 satellite is expected to get separated from the launch vehicle.

BlueBird Block-2 mission is part of a global LEO constellation to provide direct-to-mobile connectivity through satellite.

This constellation would enable 4G and 5G voice and video calls, texts, streaming and data for everyone, everywhere at all times. It features a 223m2 phased array, making it the largest commercial communications satellite every deployed into low Earth Orbit, about 600km altitude.

AST SpaceMobile had launched five satellites, BlueBird 1-5 in September 2024 which provide continuous internet coverage across the United States and other select countries.

The company has planned to launch similar satellites to augment its network support and has partnered with over 50 mobile operators across the globe.

ISRO’s upcoming LVM3 M6 mission will carry the BlueBird Block-2 satellite into orbit on December 24, as part of a commercial deal with U.S.-based AST SpaceMobile. The historic mission will deploy the next-generation communication satellite designed to provide high-speed cellular broadband directly to smartphones worldwide.

AST SpaceMobile (AST & Science, LLC) is building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network, which is accessible directly by smartphones and designed for both commercial and government applications.

“We are on a mission to eliminate the connectivity gaps faced by today’s nearly six billion mobile subscribers and bring broadband to the billions who remain unconnected,” the company said in its website.

AST SpaceMobile has launched five satellites — BlueBird 1-5 in September 2024, which enable continuous internet coverage across the US and other select countries.

The US-based company has planned to launch similar satellites to augment its network support and has partnered with over 50 mobile operators across the globe.

For the upcoming mission, AST SpaceMobile has planned to launch its next-generation communication satellite, Bluebird Block-2, which has been designed to deliver 24/7 high-speed cellular broadband direct to smartphones worldwide.

The BlueBird Block-2 satellite features a 223 m2 phased array, making it the largest commercial communication satellite ever deployed into low Earth orbit.

According to ISRO, the mission would be a dedicated commercial launch as part of the agreement signed between NewSpace India Ltd and AST SpaceMobile (AST & Science, LLC).

NewSpace India Ltd is the commercial arm of the Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO.

The BlueBird block-2 mission is part of the global Low Earth Orbit constellation to provide direct-to-mobile connectivity through a satellite.

This constellation would enable 4G and 5G voice and video calls, texts, streaming and data for anyone at anytime, ISRO said.

The BlueBird Block-2 spacecraft would be the heaviest payload to be launched into Low Earth Orbit in the history of LVM3 rocekt.

In previous missions, the LVM3 rocket has successfully launched Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3 and two OneWeb missions carrying 72 satellites.

The latest launch made by ISRO was the communication satellite in the LVM3-M5/CMS-03 mission that was successfully accomplished on November 2, 2025.