TNPSC Daily Notes: India’s Space Programme 2026 — Gaganyaan, NISAR & ISRO Milestones | இந்திய விண்வெளித் திட்டம் 2026 — ககன்யான், நிசார் மற்றும் இஸ்ரோ சாதனைகள் — 16 September 2026

1. The Institutional Framework of Indian Space

India entered the space age in 1962 when the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was constituted under the Department of Atomic Energy at the initiative of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. On 15 August 1969 INCOSPAR was reorganised into the Indian Space Research Organisation. A separate Department of Space and a Space Commission were created in 1972, and since then the space programme has been placed directly under the Prime Minister. ISRO is headquartered at Bengaluru, and its work is distributed across specialised centres: the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram for launch vehicles, the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre for engines, the U R Rao Satellite Centre at Bengaluru for spacecraft, the Space Applications Centre at Ahmedabad for payloads, and the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota for launches. Dr. V. Narayanan, who had earlier directed the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, assumed charge as Chairman of ISRO and Secretary of the Department of Space in January 2025 in succession to S. Somanath.

2. NISAR — The India–US Radar Eye

The single most significant Earth-observation milestone of the current cycle is NISAR, the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission. Lifted off on 30 July 2025 at 17:40 IST aboard GSLV-F16 from Sriharikota, it is the first Earth-observation satellite jointly built by the two agencies and, at roughly 2,392 kilograms, among the most expensive civil remote-sensing spacecraft ever flown. Its distinguishing feature is dual-frequency radar imaging: NASA supplied the L-band synthetic aperture radar, the high-rate telecommunication subsystem, GPS receivers and a 12-metre deployable mesh antenna, while ISRO supplied the S-band radar, the spacecraft bus, the launch vehicle and launch services. Flying in a sun-synchronous orbit inclined at 98.4 degrees, NISAR images the entire land and ice surface of the planet every twelve days. Because radar penetrates cloud and does not need sunlight, the data stream is continuous through monsoon and night. For India the practical value lies in measuring ground subsidence, monitoring Himalayan glaciers, tracking coastal erosion, estimating forest biomass and crop acreage, and providing rapid damage assessment after earthquakes, landslides and floods.

3. Gaganyaan — Towards Indian Human Spaceflight

Gaganyaan is the programme that will make India the fourth nation, after the erstwhile Soviet Union, the United States and China, to launch human beings into orbit on an indigenous vehicle. The launcher is the human-rated LVM3, strengthened with additional safety margins and fitted with a Crew Escape System that can pull the crew module clear of the rocket at any point during ascent. The profile is deliberately incremental: an uncrewed orbital test flight designated Gaganyaan-1 is targeted for the final quarter of 2026, two uncrewed missions are planned within the year, and only after they succeed will astronauts fly, currently expected in 2027. Gaganyaan-1 carries Vyommitra, a half-humanoid robot that occupies the astronaut seat and exercises the life-support and environmental control systems while telemetry is collected on cabin pressure, temperature, humidity and vibration. ISRO has reported completion of more than eight thousand qualification tests, covering parachute deployment, pad abort, re-entry heat shields and sea recovery of the crew module.

4. Shubhanshu Shukla and Axiom-4

In June 2025, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force flew as pilot of Axiom Mission 4, a commercial mission launched on a SpaceX Dragon capsule from the Kennedy Space Center. He became the first Indian to board the International Space Station and only the second Indian in space, forty-one years after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma flew aboard Soyuz T-11 in 1984. The crew spent about eighteen days in orbit, and Shukla conducted seven India-specific microgravity experiments on seed germination, muscle loss, cognition and algae growth, designed to feed directly into Gaganyaan and future long-duration habitation. The mission ended with a Pacific Ocean splashdown off the Californian coast.

5. The Road Ahead and Policy Reform

Beyond Gaganyaan, ISRO has announced Chandrayaan-4, a lunar sample-return mission that will land near the Moon's South Pole and bring regolith back to Earth, targeted around 2027, and the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, India's own orbital outpost whose first module is expected around 2028 on LVM3 with completion by 2035. Equally important is the change in the rules of the game. The Indian Space Policy 2023 redrew institutional boundaries: IN-SPACe, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, became the single-window regulator and authoriser for private space activity; NewSpace India Limited became the commercial and technology-transfer arm; and ISRO was freed to concentrate on research, development and advanced missions. The FDI policy amended in 2024 permits up to 100 per cent foreign investment in the sector, with 100 per cent on the automatic route for manufacture of components and sub-systems, up to 74 per cent automatic for satellite manufacturing, operation and data products, and up to 49 per cent automatic for launch vehicles and the creation of spaceports. For the TNPSC aspirant, the examinable core is the set of names, dates, orbital parameters and institutional roles, and the ability to connect space technology to disaster management, agriculture and national security.