Isro in 2025: From Shubhanshu Shukla's Axiom-4 to 100th satellite launch

Breakthrough missions, new indigenous tech and the return of an Indian astronaut shaped Isro's eventful 2025, a year that strengthened India's push in space, human flight and undersea exploration

The year 2025 was a turning point for India’s space programme, marked by major successes, valuable lessons and new global partnerships. The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) worked closely with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) on one of its most important Earth-monitoring satellites, advanced human spaceflight preparation and launched major communication and navigation missions. The year also brought a rare setback, underscoring the inherent risks of spaceflight.

 

Beyond space, Isro contributed to India’s deep-sea exploration efforts by helping build a human-rated submersible structure for 6-km ocean dives. The organisation also advanced self-reliance with India’s first fully indigenous space-grade microprocessors. And an Indian astronaut, Shubhanshu Shukla, completed a landmark stay on the International Space Station (ISS), gaining experience crucial for future crewed missions.

 

Axiom-4: Shubhanshu Shukla completes historic ISS mission

   

The Axiom-4 mission concluded in July 2025 with the safe return of Isro astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla after 18 days on the ISS. He travelled nearly 12 million km and orbited Earth around 280 times aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.

 

Living in microgravity, he remained in good health, documented life in orbit and assisted ISS operations. He completed seven Indian science experiments focused on muscle repair, algae growth, seed behaviour, tardigrades and neurological responses to spaceflight. All samples are now under analysis.

 

Shukla’s mission also prioritised public outreach. He held live interactions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and connected with schools across India via video and amateur radio.

 

Isro teams stationed in the US gained crucial training working alongside Nasa and Axiom flight controllers. The experience strengthens India’s readiness for Gaganyaan and for the planned Indian space station.

 

Key Satellite Missions of 2025

 

NVS-02: India’s 100th launch from Sriharikota

 

Launch date: 29 January 2025

Mission: GSLV-F15/NVS-02

Purpose: Enhance NavIC by improving precise timing signals.

 

  Isro began 2025 with the NVS-02 navigation satellite. The GSLV-F15 performed perfectly, but a valve needed to shift the satellite into its final orbit did not open. The satellite remains in an elliptical path, and Isro is assessing whether it can still broadcast useful signals. The launch, however, marked the 100th mission from Sriharikota.

 

EOS-09: A rare setback ends PSLV’s long success streak

 

Launch date: 18 May 2025

Mission: PSLV-C61/EOS-09

Purpose: Radar imagery for agriculture, disaster relief and national security. 

 

The PSLV-C61’s first two stages performed normally, but a third-stage anomaly prevented EOS-09 from reaching its polar orbit. The satellite’s radar capabilities would have supported cloud-penetrating and night-time imaging. The mission ended a long run of PSLV successes.

 

NISAR: The landmark Nasa–Isro climate mission

 

Launch date: 30 July 2025

Mission: GSLV-F16/NISAR

Purpose: High-resolution monitoring of Earth’s land, ice and ecosystems. 

 

NISAR, carrying L-band and S-band radars, is one of Isro’s biggest collaborations with Nasa. Its 12-metre antenna images Earth every 12 days to track forests, crops, glaciers and coastlines. After nearly a decade of development, it entered its science phase in 2025 and will operate for at least five years.

 

CMS-03: India’s heaviest communication satellite

 

Launch date: 2 November 2025

Mission: LVM3-M5/CMS-03

Purpose: Improve connectivity for civilian and strategic users. 

 

LVM3 launched CMS-03, India’s heaviest communication satellite, into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. It will enhance telephony, television and data coverage across India and nearby ocean regions. The successful mission strengthens India’s communication infrastructure.

 

How did Isro advance indigenous space technology in 2025? 

India’s first home-built space-grade microprocessors

 

In March, Isro and the Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) unveiled two Indian-made microprocessors—VIKRAM3201 and KALPANA3201.

 

VIKRAM3201, a fully indigenous 32-bit processor qualified for extreme launch environments, is an upgrade from the 16-bit chip used since 2009. It has already been space-tested on a PSLV mission. 

VIKRAM3201 and KALPANA3201

 

KALPANA3201 is based on an open-standard architecture, allowing broad software compatibility. Isro and SCL also delivered four miniaturised avionics systems and signed an MoU to co-develop tiny pressure sensors for wind-tunnel tests.

 

What role did Isro play in India’s deep-sea mission? 

MATSYA-6000: The human-occupied submersible sphere

 

In July 2025, India crossed a major milestone in the Samudrayaan project. NIOT and Isro’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre built the 2.26-metre titanium sphere that will house three crew members during 6-km-deep ocean dives.

 

The sphere, with 80-mm-thick walls, can withstand pressures 600 times that at sea level and temperatures down to –3°C. 

 

A key challenge was welding the thick titanium structure. Isro upgraded its electron-beam welding machine from 15 kW to 40 kW and enhanced X-ray inspection for weld validation. Nearly 700 trials led to India’s first successful weld of this scale on actual hardware.