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India Space Mission
In a defining milestone, Skyroot Aerospace on Saturday launched the country's first private orbital rocket and successfully placed multiple technology-demonstration payloads into the desired orbit, making India the third country with private orbital launch capabilities after the US and China. The four-stage, seven-storey-tall Vikram-1 rocket lifted off majestically at 12.05 pm amid cloudy skies from the first launch pad of ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, leaving behind plumes of orange smoke and marking a new era in the country's space missions. The Hyderabad-based company, which carries the slogan - "Redefining access to space. Your fast track to the orbit. On-demand launch vehicle for rapid, precise, and customizable small satellite deployments"- on its website, described Saturday's mission 'Aagaman' (arrival) as a "grand success". The rocket, named after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India's space programme, also carried payloads that had postcards, including from Prime
India's first private orbital-class rocket, Vikram-1, carrying multiple technology demonstration payloads and a postcard from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, lifted off from this spaceport on Saturday. Named "Mission Aagaman" (arrival), the test flight's launch marks a historic milestone for the country's commercial space sector, executed by Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace. On a cloudy day, the seven-storey-tall, four-stage Vikram-1 rocket lifted off at 12.05 pm on Saturday from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, here. Following a "planned hold," due to apparent navigation issues, the launch was revised 35 minutes late than the original prefixed time of 11.30 am. After its initial journey of a little short of 16 minutes, Vikram-1 is expected to place the payloads, both domestic and foreign, into a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 450 km with an inclination of 60 degrees. Vikram-1, named after the legendary Vikram Sarabhai who is often regarded as the Fat
Nasa astronaut Anil Menon and two Russian cosmonauts lifted off onboard a Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft from Kazakhstan on an eight-month mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday. The spacecraft carrying Menon and Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome at 8:17 p.m. IST. After a two-orbit, three-hour trip to the station, the spacecraft will automatically dock at 11:56 p.m. IST to the Prichal module. Once aboard, the trio will join NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev, and Andrey Fedyaev.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Thursday that it is inviting proposals from the Indian solar physics community to access data from the Aditya-L1 mission, the first space-based Indian mission to study the Sun. This is the second such formal call from ISRO for Indian scientists to access the Aditya-L1 mission data; the first call was made in January. "At present, there are over 27 TB of data in the public domain, and several important scientific results have been published in international peer-reviewed journals. To further maximise the scientific return from this unique mission, the ISRO has released the second Announcement of Opportunity (AO) inviting proposals from the Indian solar physics community for Aditya-L1 observation time," the ISRO said in a statement. Proposals can be submitted by Indian scientists and researchers based at institutes, universities, or colleges in India. The applicants should be involved in research in the area of solar science a
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday detailed its on-orbit observations of the NVS-02 spacecraft and the recommendations made by an Apex Committee constituted to review the issue that affected its orbit-raising operations. NVS-02, the second spacecraft in the NVS series, was injected into an elliptical transfer orbit on January 29, 2025, following its launch aboard GSLV-F15. NVS-02 was injected successfully into the elliptical transfer orbit of 170x37,785 km with 20.8 degree inclination at 00:53 UT, ISRO said in a statement. The spacecraft was separated from the launch vehicle at 01:12:08 UT, after which a series of autonomous activities on the satellite were carried out, including the solar panel deployment and stabilising the orientation for power generation, it said. "However, the orbit raising operations from the elliptical to circular orbit could not be carried out," it said. An Apex Committee was subsequently formed to examine the observations and recom
ISRO is gearing up for one of its busiest times with seven more launches planned this financial year, even as India's first human spaceflight remains scheduled for 2027, its chairman V Narayanan said. In an interview with PTI, he said ISRO is preparing for a phase of rapid scaling in science, technology and industry capacity. Narayanan said ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is targeting seven more launches before the end of the current financial year, including a commercial communication satellite, and multiple PSLV and GSLV missions. A milestone will be the launch of the first PSLV manufactured entirely by the Indian industry. The ISRO chief said the government has approved the Chandrayaan-4 mission, designed as a lunar sample-return mission and it will be India's most complex lunar endeavour yet. "We are targeting 2028 for Chandrayaan-4," he said. Another key mission is LUPEX, the joint lunar polar exploration programme with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). IS
IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who became the first Indian to reach the International Space Station (ISS), said on Friday that when one leaves the planet to be in space, Earth becomes their identity. Shukla, who was in Goa, said that nationality doesn't matter in space, as humanity takes precedence. Describing his experience at the ISS, he said that looking out from the station felt like being in an office with the best view possible. It was just too fascinating, he said, virtually addressing students from schools affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, as part of a session titled Igniting Minds, Exploring Frontiers: The Convergence of Space, Education, and Industry'. During the interactive session, he said people may have different identities in this world, but they blur when one is in space. When you are a kid and going to school, our home and parents become our identity. When we go to college, the college becomes our identity. When you le
