Opinion | India’s Progress in Space Science and Its Growing Global Role

There was a time when India’s space programme started with small resources, determined scientists and a dream that seemed too big for the country. But now, that dream has travelled from the launchpads of Thumba to the Moon, Mars, the Sun and even the International Space Station. India’s journey in space science has grown from being just a story of technological feats to one of national confidence, global partnership and the rising of a new India.

At the heart of this transformation is the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which has quietly built one of the most respected space programmes in the world today. It has launched satellites for communication and weather forecasting purposes, to support agriculture, disaster management, navigation and national infrastructure, amongst many other things.

The transformation has been witnessed globally with Chandrayaan-3. India achieved what was thought impossible by successfully landing near the Moon’s south polar region on 23rd August 2023, becoming the first nation to do so. This proved not only that India is capable of achieving complex space missions with its own indigenous expertise and discipline, but also demonstrated its growing technological prowess and the confidence of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi captured the emotional moment saying, “India is on the Moon! We have our national pride placed on the Moon.” He described the achievement as a sign of an India that is “fearless and relentless” and able to offer solutions to the world’s major problems.

The story hasn’t ended with the Moon.

India’s Aditya-L1 mission has propelled it into a new era of solar science. Launched in September 2023, the spacecraft was placed into its targeted halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L1 point in January 2024, allowing Indian scientists to study the Sun and its effects on space weather. XPoSat has taken another step by studying X-ray polarisation from astronomical sources.

Meanwhile, India has proven not only that it can enter space, but that it can carry out increasingly complex operations in it. The SpaDeX mission has successfully demonstrated autonomous docking and undocking and power transfer between spacecraft, becoming the fourth country in the world to demonstrate docking capabilities in space. These technologies are crucial for future space stations, servicing missions and more ambitious human-spaceflight programmes.

The next great chapter, however, is already being written.

India’s Gaganyaan programme aims at putting Indian astronauts in space. The country is also working towards establishing an Indian space station and future human mission to the Moon. In his recent remarks at the International Space Summit in Paris, the Prime Minister said India aims to establish an Indian space station by 2035 and send an Indian to the Moon by 2040.

These ambitions are a reflection of the massive shift happening in the world space community. India is no longer just a participant in international space exploration, but a partner, service provider, scientific contributor and technological collaborator.

Indian rockets have carried hundreds of foreign satellites into orbit. ISRO currently records more than 430 foreign satellites launched for other countries, demonstrating the trust they have in India’s launch capabilities.

India’s growing influence in space is also being driven by new private companies and entrepreneurs. The opening up of the space sector has allowed startups to work on satellites, propulsion, Earth observation, launch systems and other advanced technologies. The Prime Minister noted at GLEX 2025 that India has crossed 250 space startups, indicating that the country’s space story is going beyond government laboratories into the wider innovation ecosystem.

But perhaps the most important achievement of India’s space programme is that space technology is increasingly coming into everyday life.

Satellites support farming, fishing, emergency responders and planners. Information from satellites supports disaster management, weather forecasting, crop insurance and infrastructure planning. In this way, India’s space programme isn’t a race between nations, but a practical tool for making life better on Earth. Prime Minister Modi has repeatedly stated that India’s progress in space should ultimately make everyday life easier for its citizens.

There’s also a deeper civilisation-level confidence emerging from this journey. India’s vision of becoming a “Vishwa Guru” shouldn’t be interpreted as just wanting to be superior to other nations. In the modern age, it means becoming a country whose knowledge, scientific capability, innovation and values contribute meaningfully to humanity.

At GLEX 2025, PM Modi stated that India’s space vision was tied with the ancient philosophy of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” — the world is one family. He stressed that it wasn’t about competing with others, but about exploring, innovating and progressing for the benefit of humanity.

That message gives India’s space rise a distinctive character. The Indian flag on the Moon, Indian technology in orbit and Indian astronauts reaching the International Space Station are all powerful achievements. But what matters even more is what it inspires: millions of young Indians to look towards science, engineering, research and discovery with ambitious goals: Gaganyaan, the Bharatiya Antariksha Station, lunar exploration, planetary missions and more.

India has come a long way from bicycles in the early days to complex missions beyond Earth. The journey has been enabled not through shortcuts, but with patience, scientific temperament and generations of determined scientists.

The road ahead is even more ambitious: Gaganyaan the Bharatiya Antariksha Station, lunar exploration, planetary missions and deeper cooperation with the world.

The message from India’s space journey, however, is clear: the sky is not the limit. It’s only the beginning.

As India reaches further into the cosmos, its greatest achievement may be the confidence it instills on Earth — that a country that was once considered a developing power can become a source of knowledge, technology and inspiration for the world.

The dream of a Vishwa Guru Bharat will ultimately be measured not only by how far India can travel but by how much its knowledge and innovation can contribute to humanity.

And from the Moon to the Sun, from the launchpad to the stars, India is steadily writing that next chapter.

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