From Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s historic visit to the International Space Station (ISS) to the launch of India’s first private earth imaging satellite constellation, 2025 was a year of significant firsts for the Indian space sector. The year 2026 is poised to witness crucial milestones, starting with the inaugural uncrewed Ganganyaan mission.
The space endeavors in 2025 were led by both the government’s ISRO and private companies, collectively contributing to the space economy valued at around $13 billion. The sector’s ambition is to secure 8-10% of the global commercial space market share by the next decade.
The year commenced with the successful docking of SPADEX satellites in January, making India the fourth nation to master space docking technology. ISRO celebrated its 100th launch from Sriharikota by deploying the NVS-02 navigation satellite into the planned Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
Additionally, the Union Cabinet sanctioned the establishment of the Third Launch Pad (TLP) at Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Space startup Digantara launched the Space Camera for Object Tracking (SCOT) satellite to enhance space safety, while Pixxel from Bengaluru introduced its Firefly constellation.
