India’s Space Program in 2025

Context:

2025 is going to be a year of transition for the India space program shifting from planning to mission mode with many strides towards future missions such as Chandrayaan4 and the Bharatiya Antariksh Station.

• PSLV-C60 Mission
  • Launch Timing: On Dec 30, 2024 the PSLV-C60 mission was undertaken and thus a proud moment for space history with two satellites being deployed together in space for the first ever docking experiment.
• Satellite Docking Experiment
  • Mission accomplished an on orbit rendezvous and docked ISRO celebrated its first encounter of two spacecraft docking on 16 Jan 2025.
• SpaDeX and POEM-4 Joint Successful Endeavors
  • SpaDeX Satellites
    • The two satellites launched in orbit and made several rendezvous maneuvers with the final docking occurring on January 16.
    • The two satellites were operated together demonstrating the conditions that would be required for lunar and space station missions.
    • Kepler Aerospace supported the mission from the ground.
  • POEM-4 Mission
    • After the PSLVC-60 launch ISRO’s fourth stage module was utilized as an experimental satellite carrying 24 payloads.
• Key achievements include
  • Testing of Relocatable Robotic Manipulator and the Debris Capture Robotic Arm.
  • Launch of Vyom 2U with green propulsion system tested by Manastu Space.
  • Communication tests and payload demonstrations by private companies like Bellatrix Aerospace and N Space Tech.

International Cooperation and Space Missions

• Transporter 12 Mission
  • Three payloads from Indian private companies flew on board SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket on 15 January, 2025.
• Firefly hyperspectral satellites by Pixxel Space
  • The first private satellite constellation for India: A space situational awareness camera to track low Earth orbit objects by Digantara Elevation 1 miniaturised communications satellite by XDLINX Labs.

Infrastructure and Testing for Future Missions

• New Launch Pad
  • Union Cabinet cleared the construction of the third launch pad at Sriharikota to accommodate the human spaceflight and the Next Generation Launch Vehicle NGLV in 2029.
• Vikas Engine Test
  • The ISRO tested its Vikas engine capability by restarting it in atmospheric conditions which is a crucial milestone for future missions.

• AdityaL1
  • On January 6 2025, ISRO released the first data set into the public arena regarding its Aditya L1 mission focused on the sun for a whole year illuminating the path to understanding solar activity and its potential impact on other planets in space.

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)