What happened (July 2023–June 2026)

The Department of Space reported that, between July 2023 and June 2026, India successfully launched 12 launch vehicle missions, 11 national satellites, and 9 satellites for international customers. The milestones highlighted include lunar soft-landing near the Moon’s south pole via the Chandrayaan-3 mission, India’s solar observatory mission Aditya-L1 launched on PSLV, and the achievement of 100 launches from India’s spaceport at Sriharikota during the same timeframe.

The government also reported in-orbit technology demonstrations and capacity-building milestones: SPADEX demonstrated docking/undocking in space; the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) completed development with its 3rd developmental flight and an additional technology transfer agreement with Indian industry. The first joint NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission was reported as successfully launched on an ISRO GSLV vehicle, and the CMS-03 mission is reported to have launched the heaviest satellite to GTO from Indian soil using the LVM3 launch vehicle.

Launch vehicles and operational footprint

The Department of Space stated that it has developed and operationalised four launch vehicles: PSLV, GSLV, GSLV MkIII, and SSLV. These launch vehicles are described as being used for earth observation, communication, navigation, space science and exploration, along with commercial launch services for national and international customers.

Background and earlier position: launch infrastructure and capability building

Related current affairs