India’s space journey has evolved beyond a string of spectacular missions. It has the national pulse and is a source of daily inspiration. In June 2025, when Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla displayed the Tricolour aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it was a moment of pride for every Indian. The Prime Minister called it a “defining chapter” of Amrit Kaal (‘era of nectar’), and for many, that moment felt like India’s ascent was a part of their own heartbeat. It was not just science. It was identity being reshaped through vision and purposeful programmes.

That same spirit has been echoed earlier, on August 23, 2023, when Chandrayaan-3 made India the first nation to land near the lunar south pole. “India is now on the Moon,” declared Mr. Modi — words which rippled through classrooms, villages and living rooms alike. India’s lunar programme has been truly path breaking: Chandrayaan-1 (2008) confirmed the presence of water molecules; Chandrayaan-2 (2019) mapped the moon with high precision and prepared the ground for Chandrayaan-3 (2023), which achieved the world’s first soft landing near the south pole. When the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover explored the lunar surface for a full moon day, this led children to draw depictions of lunar landscapes in notebooks, it left researchers feeling vindicated, and inspired citizens who saw India’s story in space as also their own future.

India has become a trusted global partner in space. Over 400 foreign satellites have been launched aboard Indian rockets. In 2014, India became the first Asian nation and only the fourth in the world to reach Mars orbit — and on its maiden attempt, with the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan). The Aditya-L1 mission (2023), built through multi-institutional collaboration, is providing unprecedented insights into the sun’s corona and its impact on space weather. XPoSat (2024) is studying black holes, while SpaDeX (2024) has demonstrated in-orbit docking for future space stations and lunar missions.

A new space vision

These milestones are reshaping policy, culture, and aspiration. The road map is bold: continuation of the Gaganyaan programme for human spaceflight, Chandrayaan-4 and 5 for deeper lunar exploration, a dedicated Venus mission, a Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) by 2035, and an Indian human landing on the Moon by 2040. These are not distant dreams but national goals, aligned with the spirit of Amrit Kaal.

The Prime Minister has called for building a pool of 40 to 50 trained astronauts for future missions. On National Space Day 2025 (August 23), he urged young citizens to see themselves as participants in India’s human space programme. Gaganyaan, with an approved outlay of over ₹20,000 crore, is advancing steadily. Four Indian Air Force test pilots are undergoing training, and a series of uncrewed and crewed flights will culminate in India’s first indigenous human space mission, presently targeted for 2027.

Space technology today is woven into the fabric of governance and daily life. Satellites deliver disaster warnings, guide fishermen, assess crop yields and insurance claims, enhance railway safety, and power the geospatial backbone of the PM Gati Shakti programme. Space is no longer a distant luxury but a democratic utility — accessible to every citizen.

At the same time, space exploration fuels Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, advanced research, and workforce development. Future-ready technologies in space operations autonomy, robotics, in-space manufacturing, surveillance and interplanetary travel are being developed, ensuring that India retains leadership in this strategic frontier.

The transformation of India’s space sector is deliberate and ambitious. The opening of the field to private players, creating a thriving ecosystem of more than 350 startups building satellites, launch vehicles, and ground systems. The space budget has nearly tripled — from ₹5,615 crore in 2013-14 to ₹13,416 crore in 2025-26 — and has been augmented by nearly ₹5,000 crore in user funds. India’s space economy, currently valued at $8 billion, is projected to grow to $44 billion in the years ahead, creating jobs, industries and innovations that orbit around this sector.

Inspiring the next generation

The Prime Minister has challenged the ecosystem to deliver five space unicorns within the next five years and to scale up annual launches, nearly ten-fold, to 50 a year. With private participation, India is advancing technologies related to semi-cryogenics, electric propulsion, quantum communication and in-orbit servicing.

Youth are at the heart of this vision. The International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics hosted in India (August 2025) drew nearly 300 participants from over 60 countries, with Indian students winning medals. Initiatives such as the ISRO Robotics Challenge and Indian Space Hackathon/Bharatiya Antariksh Hackathon are bringing school and college students into direct contact with rovers, satellites and rockets, building confidence that the laboratories and launchpads of tomorrow are theirs to claim.

At the policy level, the National Meet 2.0 held just before National Space Day produced 5,000-plus pages of documentation across 300 user interactions. This 15-year road map aligns every mission with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

Global collaborations and leadership

Space has been consistently projected as a global commons, where India’s leadership translates into shared progress. The South Asia Satellite has provided neighbours with communication capacity, while during India’s G-20 Presidency in 2023, India announced a “G20 satellite” for climate and environmental monitoring with data shared with all nations. Collaborative missions such as NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Thermal infraRed Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural resource Assessment (TRISHNA) with CNES (French space agency), Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and India’s participation in the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Proba-3 demonstrate India’s rise as a global partner, guided by the ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (‘the world is one family’).

India’s space journey is more than rockets and satellites. It is about a nation discovering new ways to see itself. The salute of Shubhanshu Shukla aboard the ISS, the landing of Chandrayaan-3, 350 startups from small towns designing space systems, young students competing in Olympiads, and satellites quietly serving national security and citizen services are all part of the same story.

In this Amrit Kaal, India is not simply participating in the space age. It is shaping it. With ambition, confidence, and purpose, Bharat looks to the stars knowing that the horizon belongs to it too.

S. Somanath was former Secretary, Department of Space, and Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He is now Distinguished Visiting Professor, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and Adviser (Space Technology), Government of Andhra Pradesh. The views expressed are personal

Published – January 01, 2026 12:16 am IST

ISRO Chairman S Somanath.
| Photo Credit: PTI

India will collaborate with China on space research if it sees the need to do so, but at present, there is no need for such engagement, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman S. Somanath told The Hindu on Friday (August 23, 2024), seconded by Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State for the Department of Space.

They were responding to a question from The Hindu on the sidelines of the National Space Day celebrations, asking whether Indian scientists might benefit from engaging with China, especially in the context of the Chandrayaan-4 mission, which does not have a firm timeline as yet, but is likely to take place before 2030. The mission will involve sending a probe to the moon to scoop lunar soil samples and bring some back to earth. A successful mission of this sort would, most importantly, prove ISRO’s technological capability to remotely launch a rocket from another celestial body.

Indigenous successes

“We are working on developing our own capabilities and stressing on indigenous development… If we find any deficiencies, we will collaborate,” said Dr. Somanath, the ISRO chief.

Seconding his views, Dr. Singh, who is also the Science Minister, said that if there was any “mutual benefit”, India would be open to collaboration. “We can consider it, but I don’t see any need as of now. All our successes so far have been completely indigenous. We regularly engage internationally and are working with NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration] on a satellite,” he added.

The pair were fielding questions from the press at an event to mark the first anniversary of the Chandrayaan-3 successfully landing at the moon’s South Polar region on August 23, 2023.

Chinese invitation

In June, China’s Chang‘e 6 spacecraft brought back soil and rock from the far side of the moon – the side that’s not visible from the earth – over a 53-day mission. Chinese authorities had then given an open invitation to scientists from all over the world to study the samples, under research collaborations.

“China welcomes scientists from all countries to apply according to the processes and share in the benefits,” Liu Yunfeng, director of the international cooperation office of the China National Space Administration, had said at a briefing. China has worked with the European Space Agency, France, Italy, and Pakistan on the Chang’e 6 mission. While American researchers have reportedly expressed a desire to work with China, U.S. law forbids such direct bilateral engagement and requires its security establishment to vet any scientific engagement.

One of the four astronauts undergoing training for the Gaganyaan mission will travel to the International Space Station as part of a collaborative effort with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Union Minister Jitendra Singh has informed the Lok Sabha.

In a written reply, Mr. Singh said NASA has identified a private entity Axiom Space and ISRO had signed a Space Flight Agreement with the American firm for the joint mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. last year, President Joe Biden announced that India and the U.S. were collaborating to send an Indian astronaut to the ISS in 2024.

India’s Astronaut Selection Board had selected four astronauts from the group of test pilots from the Indian Air Force for the Gaganyaan mission, India’s first human space flight planned to take place next year.

“All four astronauts have undergone training on a spaceflight basic module in Russia. Currently, astronauts are undergoing training at ISRO’s Astronauts Training Facility (ATF) in Bengaluru for the Gaganyaan Mission,” Mr. Singh said.

The minister said two out of three semesters of the Gaganyatri training programme have been completed while independent training simulators and static mockup simulators have been realised.

Sharing an update on the Gaganyaan mission, Mr. Singh said ground testing of propulsion systems stages, including solid, liquid and cryogenic engine, towards human rating of the launch vehicle has been completed.

Design and realisation of five types of crew escape system solid motors has been completed, he said.

The Union minister said static testing of all five types of solid motors too has been completed. Also, the first Test Vehicle mission (TV-D1) for performance validation of crew escape system and parachute deployment has been successfully accomplished, he added.

Mr. Singh said designs of the crew module and service module structure have been completed and various parachute systems have been tested through integrated main parachute airdrop test and rail track rocket sledge tests.

The ground test programme towards human rating of the Crew Module Propulsion System has been completed and the Service Module Propulsion System test programme is nearing completion, the minister told Lok Sabha.

He said characterisation of the Thermal Protection System has been completed.

Critical ground facilities such as Orbital Module Preparation Facility, ATF, and Oxygen Testing Facility have been operationalised and works on the Mission Control Centre facilities and establishment of Ground Station networks were nearing completion, Mr. Singh said.

The minister said solid and liquid propulsion stages of human-rated launch vehicle was ready for flight integration and the C32 cryogenic stage was nearing completion.

The crew module and service module structure realisation has been completed and flight integration activities were in progress, he added.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a replay screen shows Chang’e-6 probe collecting samples on the moon surface, at Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) in Beijing, on June 4, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

China says a spacecraft carrying rock and soil samples from the far side of the moon has lifted off from the lunar surface to start its journey back to Earth.

The ascender of the Chang’e-6 probe lifted off on June 4 morning Beijing time and entered a preset orbit around the moon, the China National Space Administration said.

The Chang’e-6 probe was launched last month and its lander touched down on the far side of the moon on June 2.

Xinhua News Agency cited the space agency as saying the spacecraft stowed the samples it had gathered in a container inside the ascender of the probe as planned.

The container will be transferred to a reentry capsule that is due to return to Earth in the deserts of China’s Inner Mongolia region about June 25.

Missions to the moon’s far side are more difficult because it doesn’t face the Earth, requiring a relay satellite to maintain communications. The terrain is also more rugged, with fewer flat areas to land.

Xinhua said the probe’s landing site was the South Pole-Aitken Basin, an impact crater created more than 4 billion years ago that is 13 kilometers (8 miles) deep and has a diameter of 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles).

It is the oldest and largest of such craters on the moon, so may provide the earliest information about it, Xinhua said, adding that the huge impact may have ejected materials from deep below the surface.

The mission is the sixth in the Chang’e moon exploration program, which is named after a Chinese moon goddess. It is the second designed to bring back samples, following the Chang’e 5, which did so from the near side in 2020.

The moon program is part of a growing rivalry with the U.S. — still the leader in space exploration — and others, including Japan and India. China has put its own space station in orbit and regularly sends crews there.

The emerging global power aims to put a person on the moon before 2030, which would make it the second nation after the United States to do so. America is planning to land astronauts on the moon again — for the first time in more than 50 years — though National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) pushed the target date back to 2026 earlier this year.