The year 2025 proved to be a turning point for India’s space programme, with significant successes, lessons learned, and new international partnerships. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) collaborated closely with NASA on major Earth-monitoring satellites, advanced human spaceflight preparations, and launched critical communication and navigation missions.
Despite the year’s achievements, ISRO faced a rare setback, highlighting the inherent challenges and risks associated with spaceflight.
Beyond space, ISRO contributed to India’s deep-sea exploration through the development of a human-rated submersible capable of 6-km dives. Additionally, the organisation advanced technological self-reliance with India’s first fully indigenous space-grade microprocessors.
A major highlight of 2025 was Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla completing a landmark stay on the International Space Station (ISS), gaining crucial experience for future crewed missions.
The Axiom-4 mission concluded in July 2025, with ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla returning safely after spending 18 days on the ISS. He travelled nearly 12 million kilometres and completed around 280 orbits of Earth aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.
While living in microgravity, Shukla remained in excellent health, documented daily life in orbit, and assisted ISS operations. He conducted seven Indian science experiments on:
Muscle repair
Algae growth
Seed behaviour in microgravity
Tardigrade studies
Neurological responses to spaceflight
All collected samples are now under analysis to support future space research.
Shukla prioritised public engagement, holding live interactions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and connecting with schools across India via video calls and amateur radio.
ISRO teams based in the US received critical training alongside NASA and Axiom flight controllers, enhancing India’s readiness for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission and the proposed Indian space station.
Launch Date: 29 January 2025
Mission: GSLV-F15/NVS-02
Purpose: Enhance NavIC navigation system by improving precise timing signals
The year began with the NVS-02 navigation satellite launch. While GSLV-F15 performed flawlessly, a valve meant to place the satellite in its final orbit failed to open. As a result, NVS-02 remains in an elliptical orbit, though ISRO is assessing its utility for broadcasting signals. This launch marked the 100th mission from Sriharikota, a significant milestone for the organisation.
Launch Date: 18 May 2025
Mission: PSLV-C61/EOS-09
Purpose: Radar imagery for agriculture, disaster relief, and national security
The PSLV-C61’s first two stages performed normally, but a third-stage anomaly prevented EOS-09 from reaching its polar orbit. The satellite’s advanced radar, designed for cloud-penetrating and night-time imaging, could not be deployed. This mission ended PSLV’s long streak of successes.
Launch Date: 30 July 2025
Mission: GSLV-F16/NISAR
Purpose: High-resolution monitoring of Earth’s land, ice, and ecosystems
NISAR, equipped with L-band and S-band radars, represents one of ISRO’s largest collaborations with NASA. Its 12-metre antenna images Earth every 12 days, tracking forests, crops, glaciers, and coastlines. After nearly a decade of development, NISAR entered its science phase in 2025, with a projected operational life of at least five years.
Launch Date: 2 November 2025
Mission: LVM3-M5/CMS-03
Purpose: Enhance connectivity for civilian and strategic users
The LVM3 rocket successfully placed CMS-03, India’s heaviest communication satellite, into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The satellite will strengthen telephony, television, and data coverage across India and nearby oceans, bolstering the country’s communication infrastructure.
In March 2025, ISRO and Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) introduced two fully Indian-made microprocessors:
VIKRAM3201: A fully indigenous 32-bit processor, qualified for extreme launch environments, an upgrade from the 16-bit chip used since 2009, already space-tested on a PSLV mission
KALPANA3201: Based on an open-standard architecture for broad software compatibility
ISRO and SCL also delivered four miniaturised avionics systems and signed an MoU to develop tiny pressure sensors for wind-tunnel testing.
As part of Samudrayaan, ISRO and NIOT completed the MATSYA-6000 titanium sphere in July 2025. The 2.26-metre sphere can house three crew members for dives up to 6 km.
Wall thickness: 80 mm
Pressure resistance: 600 times sea-level pressure
Temperature endurance: –3°C
A major challenge was welding the thick titanium. ISRO upgraded its electron-beam welding machine from 15 kW to 40 kW and enhanced X-ray inspection for weld validation. After nearly 700 trials, India achieved its first successful large-scale weld on operational hardware.
Conclusion
The year 2025 was transformative for ISRO, combining human spaceflight, international collaborations, satellite milestones, indigenous technology development, and deep-sea exploration. From Shubhanshu Shukla’s Axiom-4 mission to the 100th satellite launch at Sriharikota, ISRO demonstrated its commitment to advancing India’s space and technological frontiers, while preparing for future challenges like Gaganyaan and the Indian space station.