Syllabus:

GS3: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology. 

Context: The second National Space Day is being celebrated across the country on 23rd August 2025. 

More on the News 

• The day commemorates the successful soft landing of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission’s Vikram Lander and the deployment of the Pragyan Rover on the Moon on 23rd of August 2023.
• On this day in 2023, the Chandrayaan-3 mission accomplished the safe and soft landing of the Vikram Lander on the lunar surface. 
• The theme for this year’s celebration is Aryabhatta to Gaganyaan: Ancient Wisdom to Infinite Possibilities.

Major Achievements of India in its Space Journey 

Aryabhata: 

• It was India’s first satellite. It was launched in 1975, and the satellite was named after the ancient Indian mathematician and astronomer, Aryabhata.
• The purpose of the satellite was defined to explore areas including Solar Physics, Aeronomy and X-ray Astronomy.

Mangalyaan: 

• It was India's first interplanetary mission. This historic achievement made ISRO the first Asian nation and the world's fourth to successfully send a spacecraft to Mars. 
• The mission's primary objective was to demonstrate India's technological capabilities for interplanetary missions, while also studying Mars' surface features, morphology and atmosphere.

Chandrayaan-3: 

• Indian Space Research Organisation launched the Chandrayaan-3 Mission by using the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III in 2023. 
• The primary objective of this mission was to place a lander and rover in the highlands near the Moon’s south pole and to demonstrate end-to-end landing and roving capabilities.
• With this, India became the fourth country to land on the moon and the first to land near the southern polar region of the moon.

Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC):

• ISRO has established a regional navigation satellite system called Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC). NavIC was formerly known as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
• NavIC offers two services, which are Standard Position Service (SPS) for civilian users and Restricted Service (RS) for strategic users. NavIC coverage area includes India and a region up to 1500 km beyond the Indian boundary. 
• NavIC signals are designed to provide user position accuracy better than 20m and timing accuracy better than 50ns. 

Gaganyaan: 

• Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in the Indian sea waters.
• The project is executed using an optimal strategy, leveraging in-house expertise, Indian industry experience, academic and research capabilities and advanced international technologies.

Next Generation Launch Vehicles (NGLVs):

• ISRO is developing Next Generation Launch Vehicles (NGLVs) with a payload capacity of up to 30,000 kg to Low Earth Orbit. 
• These vehicles will feature reusable first stages, improve cost-efficiency and increase launch frequency. 

Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS): 

• BAS is India's planned space station for scientific research which will orbit around 400 – 450km above the Earth's surface. 
• It will serve as a platform for sustained human presence in space and foster international cooperation in scientific research.

Recent Major Developments

Kulasekarapattinam Spaceport

• In February 2024, the Prime Minister of India laid the foundation stone of the spaceport, which enjoys a geographical advantage along the coastal Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district.
• This new spaceport will be instrumental for carrying out the launches of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicles (SSLV) developed by ISRO.
• The upcoming Kulasekarapattinam spaceport will support this by providing a direct south-bound, shorter launch trajectory.

NISAR 

• The NASA-ISRO NISAR satellite was recently launched aboard a GSLV Mk-II from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
• India and the US marked their maiden space collaboration with the successful flight of a GSLV rocket that placed NISAR in a precise orbit.
• ISRO’s GSLV F-16 injected the Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite into the intended Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit (SSPO), after a flight of about 19 minutes and around 745 km.
• The GSLV-F16 marks the 18th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle and the 9th operational flight with an indigenous cryogenic stage.
• This mission is the first GSLV launch to achieve a Sun-Synchronous Polar Orbit.

Sources:

https://www.newsonair.gov.in/national-space-day-being-celebrated-across-the-country-today/ https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/national-space-day-2025-date-theme-and-how-isro-is-inspiring-the-world-with-its-space-achievements/articleshow/123465878.cms https://ddnews.gov.in/en/national-space-day-indias-space-missions-scale-new-heights/