Bengaluru

ISRO Chairman V Narayanan on Tuesday said India’s space programme was conceived as a people-centric, application-driven mission rooted in international cooperation rather than competition, and has evolved into a globally respected ecosystem over six decades.

Addressing the inaugural session of the US-India Space Business Forum here, Narayanan highlighted that India’s space journey, which began modestly in the early 1960s, was designed primarily to use advanced space technology for societal benefit.

Space activities in India commenced in 1962, 15 years after Independence, and the country’s first rocket launch was enabled through support from the United States, with NASA supplying the sounding rocket, he noted.

“The Indian space programme was never intended to compete with anyone. Its purpose was to bring space technology to serve the common man,” said Narayanan, who is also Secretary, Department of Space.

He said the programme has since expanded in scope to address global needs while retaining its human-centric focus.

“Today, our space activities not only serve India but also contribute meaningfully to the global community. It is an application-oriented and people-focused programme,” he said, underlining the importance of sustained international collaboration.

Welcoming US delegates and industry representatives, Narayanan said the forum reflected the growing convergence between India and the United States in space exploration and commercial engagement.

“Such initiatives must be internationally collaborative. In this context, the US-India Space Business Forum has brought together nearly 14 business partners from the United States,” he said.

Recalling early Indo-US cooperation, he referred to India’s first sounding rocket launch in 1963 and subsequent joint efforts in satellite applications, health-related studies and planetary missions.

“The support extended by the United States during the early years marked the beginning of space activity in India,” he said.

Narayanan said cooperation between the two countries has since matured into an equal partnership, citing joint milestones such as the Chandrayaan missions, the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite and commercial launch collaborations.

“These missions demonstrated not just technical collaboration but a strong emotional bond between India and the US,” he said.

He also highlighted the rapid expansion of India’s private space ecosystem following policy reforms introduced in 2020, noting that Indian industry now plays a major role in mission realisation.

“Nearly 75 per cent of mission realisation and funding flows through Indian industry, which builds most of the hardware and software,” he said, adding that this has helped reduce costs and accelerate timelines.

Outlining future ambitions, Narayanan said India plans to establish its own space station by 2035 and undertake a crewed lunar mission by 2040.

He said ISRO is targeting the launch of the first module of the Indian space station by 2028, followed by a fully operational multi-module facility by 2035.

The roadmap also includes Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5, missions to Mars and Venus, expansion of Earth observation and navigation satellite constellations, and the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme.

Narayanan noted that India’s long-term human space exploration goals would require the development of a new generation of heavy-lift launch vehicles.

Recalling that India’s first successful launch vehicle in 1980 could carry only about 35 kg to low Earth orbit, he said future crewed lunar missions would need rockets capable of lifting 80-100 tonnes.

As an intermediate step, ISRO is developing next-generation launch vehicles with a low Earth orbit capacity of around 30,000 kg, he said, stressing that achieving human lunar missions by 2040 would require major advances in launch systems, propulsion technologies and manufacturing capabilities, supported by continued international cooperation.

“Space belongs to the entire global community, and its benefits should reach every citizen of this planet,” the ISRO chief said.