Over the past two decades, India has managed to establish itself among the world’s leading spacefaring nations, successfully carrying out space missions that would have been unimaginable in the last century. Today, we will look at how these missions unfolded and try to envision what the country’s aerospace sector might look like in the distant future.
The Moon yields to Chandrayaan-1
It was only with the advent of a new generation of powerful launch vehicles like the PSLV that the ISRO first expressed its desire to send a mission to the Moon. Six years after the PSLV’s operational debut, in 1999, the agency finally began to outline the concept of a lunar mission. Following the tradition set by other nations, the first phase of ISRO’s lunar program was to be entirely robotic. Initially, this phase involved launching an unmanned orbiter to the Moon to scout potential landing zones for future robotic missions. This strategy would allow India to prepare for eventual manned missions once the country had the capability to undertake such operations. The initial concept of the lunar mission was developed by a team of over 100 scientists and researchers.
Approved in 2003, the budget for the lunar program, dubbed Chandrayaan, was only $45 million—a figure that initially seemed insufficient to organize and execute such a complex mission. Besides the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter, which was intended to conduct radiological and chemical mapping of the lunar surface, ISRO also developed an unmanned descent probe, the MIP (Moon Impact Probe). The plan was to release MIP from the main orbital module at an altitude of 100 km. During its free fall, it would capture detailed images of the lunar surface. A new, more powerful version of the launch vehicle, the PSLV-XL, was constructed specifically for the mission.
It is worth noting that Chandrayaan-1 contained not only Indian equipment. For instance, a significant payload on the orbiter was NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), designed to conduct lunar soil spectrometry to confirm the theory of subsurface water ice and other minerals. This instrument provided a thorough mapping of the Moon’s surface and, along with the Indian MIP instrument, delivered a valuable data set proving the existence of water on the Moon.
Source: NASA
The Chandrayaan-1 mission launched on October 22, 2008, from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center. After a 19-day journey, the spacecraft entered lunar orbit on November 10 and began preparing its scientific equipment for scheduled measurements. Fourteen days later, Chandrayaan-1 deployed the MIP probe, which traveled toward the Moon while taking a series of images, eventually impacting near Shackleton Crater at the Moon’s south pole.
By early May 2009, with Chandrayaan-1 having completed its full research agenda, ISRO decided to raise its orbit to 200 km. The spacecraft continued operations from this altitude until August 28, 2009, when contact was lost, signaling the successful conclusion of the first phase of ISRO’s lunar program.
Following Chandrayaan-1’s success, India began preparations for its next unmanned mission, which aimed to achieve a soft landing of a descent module on the Moon. The planned Vikram lander was to carry a small wheeled rover, Pragyan, whose objectives included detailed analysis of lunar topography, surface chemistry, mineral identification, and distribution, while demonstrating the feasibility of remote lunar operations.
Initially, ISRO planned to launch this mission in collaboration with Roscosmos, which would have developed the mission’s landing platform. However, Roscosmos missed the initial deadline (Chandrayaan-2 was initially set to launch in 2013). It assured ISRO that it would be ready by 2015, but this deadline was also missed. Ultimately, ISRO unilaterally ended its ineffective partnership with Roscosmos in 2016 and decided to develop the lander on its own. As a result of these circumstances, the mission’s launch was postponed until 2018. The mission’s budget also doubled, with ISRO estimating that the development and launch of Chandrayaan-2 cost $96 million.
Source: ISRO
Chandrayaan-2 was finally launched aboard the LVM3 rocket on July 22, 2019. Due to the heavier payload, the spacecraft’s journey took almost a month, with the probe reaching lunar orbit only on August 20, 2019. After a series of orbital maneuvers, Chandrayaan-2 reduced its orbit to 100×35 km, and, on September 5, released the Vikram lander, which then began a gradual descent toward the designated landing zone near the Moon’s south pole. However, Chandrayaan-2’s success was only partial, as communication with Vikram was lost when just over 2 km from the landing site.
Despite the loss of Vikram’s payload, Chandrayaan-2 remained in lunar orbit and has surpassed its initial one-year mission duration by fivefold. It continues its mission, which is expected to last another 2.5 years. In October 2023, the orbiter detected large deposits of sodium, hydroxyl ions, and water molecules, complementing previous findings from Chandrayaan-1.
ISRO has been working to address past issues and has announced plans to send Chandrayaan-4 to the Moon soon. The payload and landing site remain the same, allowing the agency to organize its next launch within four years–a significant improvement over the 11 years between the first and second missions.
Source: ISRO
The Chandrayaan-3 mission launched on July 14, 2023, aboard an LVM3 rocket. The spacecraft reached lunar orbit on August 5, after which ISRO began preparations for the future landing of the Vikram lande equipped with a modified version of the Pragyan rover, now enhanced with additional scientific equipment. Specifically, it carried an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) to determine the mineral composition of lunar soil, as well as a LIBS instrument capable of performing laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy to detect elements in lunar rock, such as magnesium, potassium, silicon, aluminum, calcium, iron, and titanium.
Source: ISRO
Vikram finally detached from the orbital module on August 23, 2023, and soon thereafter made India’s first-ever soft landing near the Moon’s south pole. This event made India the fourth country in human history, after the USSR, USA, and China, to reach the Moon independently. Shortly after landing, Vikram deployed the lunar rover, which conducted a symbolic demonstration by traveling 8 meters and operating for 12 days before being put into sleep mode.
ISRO continues to publish the findings from the lunar rover’s research. In September 2024, the organization announced that, thanks to Pragyan, one of the oldest craters on the Moon (about 3.85 billion years old) with a diameter of 160 kilometers had been discovered. The data obtained from scanning the lunar regolith will help scientists shed light on the early geological formation of Earth’s satellite.
After completing its entire cycle of planned research on December 4, 2023, the Chandrayaan-3 orbiter (or propulsion module) returned to Earth’s orbit. This orbital maneuver was successful thanks to the remaining fuel in the probe, just enough for the journey back. The probe then continued its spectral observations, but now focusing on Earth, with its activity lasting until August 22, 2024. Overall, the budget for ISRO’s third lunar mission was just over $87 million.
The Indian agency has already started preparations for an upcoming Chandrayaan-4 mission. This mission will be significantly different from its predecessors, as ISRO plans to launch the spacecraft in parts, assembling it in orbit with robotic arms. This approach will allow India to overcome certain limitations related to carrying larger payloads, as its lunar missions are still launched with medium-lift rockets like the LVM3.
The tentative launch date for Chandrayaan-4 is currently set for 2027. The mission’s preliminary budget is roughly $250 million, with the primary goal being to demonstrate the capability of assembling a spacecraft in orbit, landing on the Moon, and returning approximately 3 kg of lunar regolith samples to Earth.
In just under 15 years, ISRO has completed three fully-fledged lunar missions at a cost of only $250 million—a remarkable sum compared to similar lunar missions conducted by other space agencies. Indeed, it is this “low-cost factor” that has made ISRO’s success so remarkable.
Once it conquered the Moon, India soon began contemplating other extraterrestrial space missions that would extend far beyond lunar orbit: Mars and solar exploration missions were next.
Mars Orbiter: ahead of China and Japan
After the success of Chandrayaan-1, India began preparing for its first interplanetary mission, focusing on Mars. Initial concepts for a future unmanned orbital mission to the Red Planet were outlined by ISRO as early as 2008, and in 2010, the project’s economic feasibility began to be studied. Like ISRO’s lunar missions, the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM, or Mangalyaan) was budgeted at a frugal $74 million, which drew skeptical smirks from critics of India’s space program.
Mangalyaan was intended to carry five scientific instruments:
- Lyman-Alpha Photometer (LAP) – to measure hydrogen and deuterium content in the upper layers of the Martian atmosphere;
- Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM) – to measure and map areas of methane concentration in the Martian atmosphere;
- Thermal Infrared Spectrometer (TIS) – to determine thermal radiation from Mars, primarily for mapping the mineralogical content on the planet’s surface and measuring the relative amount of CO2;
- Mars Color Camera (MCC) – to capture three-color images of the Martian surface and photograph Mars’s two moons, Phobos and Deimos;
- Martian Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer (MENCA) – a quadrupole mass analyzer with four cylindrical rods, designed to measure the neutral composition of the upper layer of the Martian atmosphere;
Source: ISRO
Initially, Mangalyaan was to be launched using the geosynchronous GSLV rocket; however, by the early 2010s, the rocket’s main cryogenic engine (installed on its final stage) was still not fully operational. Consequently, as with Chandrayaan, the choice was made to use the less powerful, but more reliable, PSLV-XL. The mass of the Martian probe was 482 kg (dry) + 852 kg of fuel needed for the interplanetary journey.
After several delays, ISRO launched MOM on November 5, 2013. The transit to Mars lasted 289 days. On September 24, 2014, the probe finally reached Martian orbit, with an altitude of 372 × 80,000 km. India became the first country in the world to successfully launch a Mars mission on its first attempt and the first to do so for less than $100 million. India also managed to surpass similar Mars missions that were being prepared by China’s CNSA and Japan’s JAXA.
Over several years of research, Mangalyaan conducted numerous studies and sent terabytes of data back to Earth about the global map of shortwave infrared albedo and the neutral composition of Mars’ exosphere. It also conducted a solar corona radio occultation experiment, which helped refine the power spectrum of turbulence at large and small heliocentric distances. Only one of MOM’s scientific instruments encountered issues: the Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM). Due to certain design limitations, it was unable to accurately measure methane content, so it was ultimately repurposed to map Martian albedo.
ISRO plans to undertake two major interplanetary programs in the near future: a second Mars mission, the Mars Lander Mission (Mangalyaan-2), this time to feature a landing on the Red Planet; and the Venus Orbiter Mission, which will send an unmanned orbiter to study the upper layers of Venus’s atmosphere. Mangalyaan-2 is scheduled for 2026, while the Venus mission is tentatively planned for launch in the summer of 2028.
Aditya L1 Solar Observatory: reaching the Lagrange zone
Another significant achievement for ISRO was positioning the Aditya spacecraft in the Lagrange (L1) zone, from where the most precise observations of the Sun’s coronal activity and its helio- and chromospheres can be conducted. Although the Lagrange zone is the nearest such region to Earth, it is still 1.5 million kilometers away, making the task of launching the Aditya L1 coronagraph a true challenge.
Source: ISRO
As far as ISRO is concerned, it doesn’t matter how far one must travel in the infinite expanse of space: a journey shouldn’t cost much more than a train trip from Delhi to Mumbai. We’re kidding, of course, but it is nevertheless remarkable that a solar observatory equipped with seven instruments was built and launched for only $45.5 million–less than ISRO spent on launching Chandrayaan-1 in 2008.
On September 2, 2023, Aditya L1 set out on its journey aboard a PSLV-XL rocket. After launch, the 400-kilogram spacecraft performed four gradual orbit-raising maneuvers before heading into its translunar injection on September 19, a journey that took nearly four months. On January 6, 2024, Aditya L1 finally reached its destination, taking up its orbital position in the Lagrange L1 zone.
ISRO now has a powerful tool for observing the Sun in the optical and near-infrared spectra. Currently, the Aditya L1 mission is expected to last at least five years and one month. However, based on the success of ISRO’s past programs, it is likely that the operational term of the solar observatory could be prolonged.
Low-cost policy: how ISRO “caught luck by the tail”
ISRO’s path to success is largely a story of achievement despite the odds, primarily vis-a-vis the relatively modest budgets allocated to the space agency in past decades. To illustrate this point, consider ISRO’s budget: in 2023-2024, India ranked only ninth in the world in funding for its space program, with a budget of $1.5 billion, surpassing only the United Kingdom.
Source: rferl.org
Despite the challenges imposed by limited funding in such a technically demanding sector, ISRO has been able to turn this approach to its advantage. In other words, because of the very constrained funding available, especially at the beginning of this century, India has had little choice but to make its space program highly cost-effective. Entire sectors have been optimized for cost-saving, and budget constraints pushed ISRO to seek innovative solutions. In 1981, ISRO even reused a rocket stage from a previous failed test—a calculated risk, albeit one that ultimately paid off across numerous projects.
Another “benefit” of small budgets was the reduction in costs for its commercial missions. Although Indian rockets are less powerful and take longer to prepare for launches compared to competitors, these conditions have enabled ISRO to offer substantially lower prices to clients who need payloads delivered to orbit without urgency. In fact, this approach was later emulated by SpaceX, which also became highly competitive in the launch market by offering attractively priced services.
ISRO was instrumental in establishing the IN-SPACe commerce system, which helps regulate the resources of private players in India’s aerospace market. Today, this ecosystem includes over 400 Indian companies, with 20 engaged in rocket development. Beyond its regulatory role, IN-SPACe fosters a network of horizontal connections between companies, enhancing the business climate in the sector.
ISRO’s budget for 2024-2025 has grown to $1.85 billion, far short of NASA’s $25.4 billion. However, the large volume of commercial orders contributes not only to additional funding but also to sustained experience for ISRO’s various departments.
ISRO continues to prove that large budgets are not the sole determinant of success in space missions. To illustrate: its entire Mars program, which launched the Mangalyaan-2 spacecraft, cost only $74 million. Comparable Mars programs, such as NASA’s MAVEN orbiter, came with a price tag of $582.2 million, while the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was $716 million—budgets roughly 8-10 times larger than ISRO’s.
Overall, ISRO’s policy of economizing across different stages of the rocket lifecycle, including using extensive computer simulations, emphasizes practical implementation. This makes ISRO quite similar to some commercial players in the U.S. market. A similar closed production cycle and focus on real-world testing has also proved effective for SpaceX. Musk’s company, for example, managed to reduce the cost of launching 1 kg of payload to orbit by 20 times in the mid-2010s. Arguably, however, ISRO was the true pioneer of this approach.
Source: ISRO
ISRO’s decision to develop a fleet of crewed spacecraft came with long-term plans. By 2035, the country aims to launch a space station, Bharatiya Antariksha, into low Earth orbit. Gaganyaan’s ten-year operational life and Chandrayaan-4’s in-orbit assembly technology are intended to be major boosts for this project.
Unlike China’s CNSA and America’s NASA, whose budgets are largely funded by state contributions, the Indian government’s share in funding ISRO remains modest. In fact, the bulk of the funds ISRO has for its ambitious space missions comes from selling satellite data and images, as well as launching foreign satellites and CubeSats into orbit.
Moreover, India continues to leverage space resources to strengthen its economy. Recently, it conducted a campaign to apply satellite technologies to address economic crises and poverty and to stimulate economic development. As part of this national campaign, for example, ISRO has provided satellite data to farmers and fishing communities to increase their productivity.
In recent years, this experience has led to optimized productivity on farms, contributed to larger tax revenues, and boosted the country’s overall GDP per capita. For large fishing communities, the use of satellite data, especially meteorological data, has led to a 30% savings in ship fuel costs, helping ship, for example, avoid going out in unfavorable weather conditions, and improved fish catches thanks to spectral scanning of the surface layer of inland water bodies to detect fish clusters.
Much of India’s space program has developed along a path entirely different from that of the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. While the Cold War rivals sought to outdo each other with complex, often symbolic missions, ISRO has focused on frugal, yet effective, production and the practical advantages of operating in space. Undoubtedly, the lack of direct competition did slow the pace of India’s space sector. However, India has also benefited immensely from developing and implementing its own space technologies.
It is now clear how this situation is changing. After the success of Chandrayaan-3, India is increasingly competing with another powerful space nation in the region: China. Whereas ISRO previously attempted to replicate China’s space achievements, today it is becoming increasingly evident that the two countries are competing with each other, with the goals of China’s Chang’e and India’s Chandrayaan missions becoming more and more similar.
In any case, ISRO’s policy is yielding results in the long term, as the organization’s budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year is expected to be 23% higher than the previous year, while NASA’s budget did not grow by even 1% during the same period. The accumulated experience of the smart allocation of financial resources that ISRO has demonstrated over the past 15 years leaves no doubt that the country will use this money to continue to deliver tangible results.
