A Computer Aided Design (CAD) view of the TRISHNA satellite.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The successful predawn launch of the advanced earth observation satellite EOS-05, on board the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket on September 4, 2026 from the spaceport in Sriharikota brought considerable relief for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO): it had finally successfully launched a rocket and place a satellite in orbit after a gap of nearly eight months.

However, even before it could celebrate the success of the F17 mission, a group of employees working in various centers of the space agency wrote to the ISRO chairman, V. Narayanan, seeking a clarification on the official government policy regarding privatisation, the transfer of ISRO manufacturing and operational functions, its future role in the Indian space programme, and the impact on serving and future employees.

Also, on the same day of the GSLV-F17 launch, the Joint Action Council (JAC), representing nine ISRO employees’ associations, sought clarification from Dr. Narayanan on a statement by Pawan Kumar Goenka — the chairman of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) — at a media summit: that “ISRO will not make any launch vehicles and will not manufacture any launch vehicles. That will all be done by the private sector or public-sector undertaking.”

The JAC also wrote in a strongly worded letter that while they were not against private participation, they would also not accept without debate a policy that they said could reduce ISRO to a residual R&D boutique.

In response, ISRO — which had until then maintained a studied silence on various issues pertaining to the agency’s functioning as well as the findings of the Failure Analysis Committee (FAC) report on the two launch failures that created the launch hiatus — issued a clarification. It dubbed the assertions to be completely baseless and incorrect, and said ISRO will neither be privatised nor will its importance be diminished.

Mr. Goenka also said ISRO will continue to remain the bedrock of the Indian space sector while IN-SPACe will facilitate greater non-governmental participation and NewSpace India, Ltd. (NSIL) would help with commercialisation. In addition to this, Dr. Narayanan also addressed ISRO employees in a video conference.

However, these outreach efforts did not quell the JAC’s concerns, and the body issued another notice seeking an official inquiry into the allegations of sabotage in the two consecutive PSLV failures, which happened on May 18, 2025, and January 12, 2026.

This second notice also said private participation must strengthen ISRO, not replace it, and sought expanded production capabilities at the organisation without also weakening it, and strengthening its R&D and administrative systems. The associations also demanded that the Joint Consultative Machinery be reinstated, that the Central Civil Services (Recognition of Service Associations) Rule 1993 be rescinded, and to endeavour against the erosion of promotional avenues and to not act against association activists.

International efforts

Aside from dealing with the HR situation back home, ISRO also strengthened its international cooperation. Dr. Narayanan participated in the International Space Summit in Paris and signed documents with the European Space Agency to extend the longstanding cooperation agreement between the two space agencies for five more years, until January 8, 2032.

The agencies have included space weather, human and robotic exploration and sustainability of space activities as new areas of cooperation.

At the BRICS New Delhi Declaration 2026, the participating countries recognised the importance of international cooperation in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space and of space systems. They also reiterated their commitment to reducing existing asymmetries in space capabilities among the BRICS countries.

The BRICS bloc today comprises Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.

IN-SPACe also engaged in dialogue with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Myanmar Space Agency, the National Space Agency of Singapore, and the Ambassador of Italy to India to strengthen bilateral ties and expand collaboration across commercial space, technologies, investments, and industry partnerships.

Two tests

Next, ISRO also carried out a couple of crucial hot-tests involving cryogenic and semi cryogenic engines. Specifically, it hot-tested the cryogenic engine identified for the seventh operational mission of the LVM-3 launch vehicle, called (LVM-M7), before its flight acceptance.

In this test, the liquid oxygen tank pressurisation module, meant for the C32 engine stage for the Gaganyaan mission, was also successfully demonstrated.

The other hot-test successfully qualified the semi-cryogenic engine power head test article (PHTA) at the full thrust level of 200 tonnes. This marked the first time the PHTA had been tested at 100% of its level. Previous tests had been conducted at 47% (94 tonnes), 60% (120 tonnes), and 88% (175 tonnes).

The PHTA contains all the semi-cryogenic engine’s systems except the thrust chamber.

Private sector

On the private front: GalaxEye, the space technology startup incubated at IIT-Madras, reported that it had been granted a patent in the U.S. for the core technology behind its OptoSAR imaging capabilities. As a result, it became the first Indian startup to receive a U.S. patent for a satellite imaging technology.

The U.S. patent covers GalaxEye’s invention of the architecture and systems used to align and synchronise optical and microwave sensors for the instrument’s spatially and temporally matched data acquisition.

Another firm, Pixxel, based in Bengaluru, announced that it had closed its Series C funding round at $100 million, co-led by Temasek and Seraphim, with participation from new investors 360 ONE Asset and IMM Investment, plus existing investors Radical Ventures and growX ventures.

The round brought Pixxel’s total funding to $195 million.

Finally, IN-SPACe has released the norms, guidelines, and procedures towards implementing the Indian Space Policy 2023 — this time vis-à-vis Indian payloads on Indian and foreign launch missions.

hemanth.cs@thehindu.co.in

This article is part of Space Wrap, a round-up of space news and developments in and related to India every month

The successful predawn launch of the advanced earth observation satellite EOS-05, on board the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket on September 4, 2026 from the spaceport in Sriharikota brought considerable relief for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO): it had finally successfully launched a rocket and place a satellite in orbit after a gap of nearly eight months.

However, even before it could celebrate the success of the F17 mission, a group of employees working in various centers of the space agency wrote to the ISRO chairman, V. Narayanan, seeking a clarification on the official government policy regarding privatisation, the transfer of ISRO manufacturing and operational functions, its future role in the Indian space programme, and the impact on serving and future employees.

Also, on the same day of the GSLV-F17 launch, the Joint Action Council (JAC), representing nine ISRO employees’ associations, sought clarification from Dr. Narayanan on a statement by Pawan Kumar Goenka — the chairman of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) — at a media summit: that “ISRO will not make any launch vehicles and will not manufacture any launch vehicles. That will all be done by the private sector or public-sector undertaking.”

The JAC also wrote in a strongly worded letter that while they were not against private participation, they would also not accept without debate a policy that they said could reduce ISRO to a residual R&D boutique.

In response, ISRO — which had until then maintained a studied silence on various issues pertaining to the agency’s functioning as well as the findings of the Failure Analysis Committee (FAC) report on the two launch failures that created the launch hiatus — issued a clarification. It dubbed the assertions to be completely baseless and incorrect, and said ISRO will neither be privatised nor will its importance be diminished.

Mr. Goenka also said ISRO will continue to remain the bedrock of the Indian space sector while IN-SPACe will facilitate greater non-governmental participation and NewSpace India, Ltd. (NSIL) would help with commercialisation. In addition to this, Dr. Narayanan also addressed ISRO employees in a video conference.

However, these outreach efforts did not quell the JAC’s concerns, and the body issued another notice seeking an official inquiry into the allegations of sabotage in the two consecutive PSLV failures, which happened on May 18, 2025, and January 12, 2026.

This second notice also said private participation must strengthen ISRO, not replace it, and sought expanded production capabilities at the organisation without also weakening it, and strengthening its R&D and administrative systems. The associations also demanded that the Joint Consultative Machinery be reinstated, that the Central Civil Services (Recognition of Service Associations) Rule 1993 be rescinded, and to endeavour against the erosion of promotional avenues and to not act against association activists.

International efforts

Aside from dealing with the HR situation back home, ISRO also strengthened its international cooperation. Dr. Narayanan participated in the International Space Summit in Paris and signed documents with the European Space Agency to extend the longstanding cooperation agreement between the two space agencies for five more years, until January 8, 2032.

The agencies have included space weather, human and robotic exploration and sustainability of space activities as new areas of cooperation.

At the BRICS New Delhi Declaration 2026, the participating countries recognised the importance of international cooperation in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space and of space systems. They also reiterated their commitment to reducing existing asymmetries in space capabilities among the BRICS countries.

The BRICS bloc today comprises Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.

IN-SPACe also engaged in dialogue with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Myanmar Space Agency, the National Space Agency of Singapore, and the Ambassador of Italy to India to strengthen bilateral ties and expand collaboration across commercial space, technologies, investments, and industry partnerships.

Two tests

Next, ISRO also carried out a couple of crucial hot-tests involving cryogenic and semi cryogenic engines. Specifically, it hot-tested the cryogenic engine identified for the seventh operational mission of the LVM-3 launch vehicle, called (LVM-M7), before its flight acceptance.

In this test, the liquid oxygen tank pressurisation module, meant for the C32 engine stage for the Gaganyaan mission, was also successfully demonstrated.

The other hot-test successfully qualified the semi-cryogenic engine power head test article (PHTA) at the full thrust level of 200 tonnes. This marked the first time the PHTA had been tested at 100% of its level. Previous tests had been conducted at 47% (94 tonnes), 60% (120 tonnes), and 88% (175 tonnes).

The PHTA contains all the semi-cryogenic engine’s systems except the thrust chamber.

Private sector

On the private front: GalaxEye, the space technology startup incubated at IIT-Madras, reported that it had been granted a patent in the U.S. for the core technology behind its OptoSAR imaging capabilities. As a result, it became the first Indian startup to receive a U.S. patent for a satellite imaging technology.

The U.S. patent covers GalaxEye’s invention of the architecture and systems used to align and synchronise optical and microwave sensors for the instrument’s spatially and temporally matched data acquisition.

Another firm, Pixxel, based in Bengaluru, announced that it had closed its Series C funding round at $100 million, co-led by Temasek and Seraphim, with participation from new investors 360 ONE Asset and IMM Investment, plus existing investors Radical Ventures and growX ventures.

The round brought Pixxel’s total funding to $195 million.

Finally, IN-SPACe has released the norms, guidelines, and procedures towards implementing the Indian Space Policy 2023 — this time vis-à-vis Indian payloads on Indian and foreign launch missions.

hemanth.cs@thehindu.co.in

A year after the launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission and the Axiom-4 mission that sent astronaut-candidate Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station, the U.S. space agency has formally extended an invitation to India to join its ambitious ‘Moon Base’ programme under the Artemis Accords.

At the ninth meeting of the India-U.S. Civil Space Joint Working Group in Bengaluru, NASA invited the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to be part of this programme, through which it is looking to establish a lunar outpost — potentially the first of its kind where astronauts will make the moon’s south pole area their home, where they will live, work, and conduct scientific activities over the next decade, perhaps beyond.

While ISRO has yet to take a call on being part of the Moon Base programme, the invitation extends the growing ties in the space sector between the two countries, especially under the Artemis Accords, to which India signed up in 2023. For ISRO, the invite offers a chance to be part of an international collaboration and gain exposure ahead of its Chandrayaan-4 and crewed moon missions.

An important launch

Moving on: After months of dilly-dallying, ISRO finally announced its second launch of the year, the GSLV-F17 mission carrying the EOS-05 earth observation satellite. The satellite will be India’s first imaging satellite stationed in the geosynchronous orbit.

At the time of writing, its launch was scheduled to take place at around 3 am on September 4 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Importantly, it will be ISRO’s first launch since the failure of the PSLV-C62 mission/EOS-N1 mission in January this year.

ISRO also conducted the ground static test of an improved version of the solid booster stage (called SS1) of its Small Satellite Launch Vehicle at the Sriharikota spaceport. The stage is expected to enhance the rocket’s payload capability by around 100 kg to low-earth orbit.

A distinguished engine

India’s private space sector has been on a roll since Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 launch. It achieved another milestone as Bengaluru-based Astrobase Space Technologies unveiled India’s first privately built 800 kN full-flow staged combustion (FFSC) LOX-methane rocket engine, named ‘Everest’. If the engine successfully passes all its qualification tests, India will become only the fourth country in the world to have FFSC engine technology, which allows for cleaner launches.

The other three countries with the technology are the usual suspects: Russia, the U.S., and China. It so happens that only three private sector entities have successfully developed the same technology, and they are in the U.S. and China: SpaceX and Stoke Space in the former and Land Space in the latter. And of them, SpaceX’s Raptor is the sole operational FFSC engine worldwide.

A second port

With the Indian space economy set a target worth of $44 billion by 2033, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) — the nodal regulator — has opened the door wider for private sector participation by issuing an ‘expression of interest’ (EoI) to operate and manage the Small-Satellite Launch Complex in Kulasekarapattinam, Tamil Nadu.

The EoI proposes to hand over the aforementioned responsibilities to an Indian private firm and has invited responses from eligible Indian industries. SLC is the country’s second spaceport, after Sriharikota, and has primarily been developed to integrate and launch smaller launch vehicles, including the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle and the private Vikram-1 and Agnibaan, among others.

This said, the Indian government’s privatisation drive has come in for criticism by the Congress party, especially by its general secretary (communication) Jairam Ramesh. In response, Union Minister of State Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said the country’s space programme was being scaled up, not scaled back.

MOSAIC and SpaceOps

In other private-sector news, Bengaluru-based space domain awareness and defence intelligence company Digantara unveiled ‘MOSAIC’, a distributed network of optical sensors, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), to provide continuous, real-time data of objects in low-earth orbit. Digantara has expressed hope that ‘MOSAIC’ will reduce India’s reliance on foreign commercial providers to track objects in orbit in a time-sensitive way during crucial missions, such as Operation Sindoor.

Another space technology startup, GalaxEye, acquired spacecraft engineering company SpaceOps, including its proprietary technologies, qualified satellite platforms, and expertise in engineering deep-tech systems. SpaceOps also has an experienced engineering team, several of whose members previously worked at TeamIndus on the latter’s moon lander and rover.

Unexpected find

A new study published in Economics Letters has estimated that India spends more to put a kilogram of payload into orbit than any other major spacefaring nation. This claim has brought into question India’s reputation as an economical launch provider for satellites. Per the study, it cost Indian rockets $13,302 to send a kilogram to low-earth orbit in 2025 — higher than Europe ($9,897), Russia ($6,682), China ($5,809), Japan ($5,287), and the U.S. ($3,225). The global average was $3,868. The reason, the authors figured, was that India did not launch often enough to bring its costs down.

Disputes about the study’s methods aside, the point about launch frequency is not misplaced: ISRO has undertaken 105 launches since the first experimental flight of its SLV-3 rocket in 1979. Since it launched the DLR-TUBSAT and KITSAT-3 satellites for Germany and South Korea respectively in 1999, ISRO has also launched 434 foreign satellites, with the last one being the American BlueBird Block-2 in December 2025. That said, as mentioned earlier, the September 4 launch will just be the second one of 2026.

hemanth.cs@thehindu.co.in

Published – September 03, 2026 12:47 pm IST

ISRO successfully launches the GSLV-F17/EOS-05 mission from the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre. (Screengrab) (X/@ISRO)

Representative image of the Tata Instityte of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. India is spending a historically unprecedented, but otherwise still insufficient, amount of money on scientific research.
| Photo Credit: TIFR/Special arrangement

The LVM3 launch vehicle successfully placed 36 satellites of the privately owned OneWeb consortium. However, you have recently indicated that the Chandrayaan-3 mission (to place a rover on the moon) will now likely only be in June 2023. Are commercial launches more important to ISRO than scientific missions?

The entire space sector is based on demand. When there is demand, I have to fulfil it. We have had only four science missions but have 53 satellites in orbit. The science component has always been very, very small. Science was never a priority but it must become the priority in the future. We’ve always had a very limited budget for science but we need more money so that we can do science missions. We are not doing enough in science but if we prioritise science, we will not get money.

The space policy, that will define the future of commercial space applications in India, has been on the anvil for a while. Is it expected soon and will it spell out the functions of New Space India Limited (NSIL). (NSIL is a public sector company and commercial arm of the ISRO).

The policy doesn’t talk about the structure of the organisation. Policy only spells out the intent and that is to have more non-governmental entities enter the space sector. The elements of this and how we can achieve this ‘intent’ is what the policy will spell out.

In the future, does ISRO aspire to be NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), in the sense more focussed on ambitious science missions?

NASA is the national space agency of the United States and decides that country’s space activities. ISRO is the national space agency of India but the way both operate could be different because the U.S. ecosystem already has a developed industry. In India, there is no industry capable of doing anything (space launches, satellite manufacturing) independently. Thus, ISRO’s role is to mentor and develop the industry ecosystem here. Once we get to that point, we could discuss the role of ISRO. Right now, I’m not interested in a comparison with another country. We have our own model.