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The mission portfolio of the Indian Space Research Organisation, spanning lunar and planetary exploration, solar science, astronomy, Earth observation and human spaceflight.
The Indian Space Research Organisation, established on 15 August 1969 under the leadership of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, runs India's civilian space programme. It functions under the Department of Space, which reports directly to the Prime Minister, and is headquartered at Bengaluru. Its mission portfolio spans six broad areas: Earth observation, lunar exploration, interplanetary science, space astronomy, solar physics and human spaceflight, alongside a satellite navigation and communications programme. ISRO's defining characteristic has been low-cost, high-impact engineering — achieving planetary and lunar objectives at budgets far below those of comparable agencies, while also operating as a commercial launch provider for foreign satellites.
Type: InstitutionChandrayaan-1 (2008) — India's first lunar mission; confirmed the presence of water molecules on the Moon, especially near the poles
Mars Orbiter Mission or Mangalyaan (2013) — entered Mars orbit in September 2014, making India the first country to succeed at Mars on its first attempt
AstroSat (2015) — India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory
Chandrayaan-2 (2019) — orbiter, Vikram lander and Pragyan rover; the lander did not survive descent but the orbiter continues to map lunar water ice and mineral composition
Chandrayaan-3 (2023) — achieved a soft landing near the lunar south pole on 23 August 2023, a first for any country; 23 August is now observed as National Space Day
Aditya-L1 (2023) — India's first solar mission, placed in a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 to study the Sun and its corona continuously
NISAR (2025) — the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, the world's first dual-frequency radar imaging satellite using both L-band and S-band
Axiom Mission 4 (2025) — Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla spent 18 days aboard the International Space Station, supporting the Gaganyaan programme
Frequency: Among the most frequently examined science topics across UPSC, SSC, Banking and Railway papers — almost every cycle carries at least one ISRO question.
15 August 1969, under Dr Vikram Sarabhai
INCOSPAR, the Indian National Committee for Space Research, formed in 1962
Bengaluru; functions under the Department of Space
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Gaganyaan
A Lagrange point is a position in space where the gravitational pull of two large bodies — here the Sun and the Earth — balances the centripetal force needed for a small object to move with them. An object parked at such a point stays in a fixed position relative to both, requiring very little fuel to hold station. L1 lies between the Sun and the Earth, roughly 1.5 million kilometres from us. Its value for a solar mission is continuous, uninterrupted observation: a satellite in Earth orbit is repeatedly blocked by the planet and by eclipses, whereas one at L1 sees the Sun without interruption. That is why Aditya-L1 was placed there rather than in a conventional orbit.
A parking spot where two opposing tugs cancel out, so you stay put without holding on.
India's space programme grew from a modest sounding-rocket effort into a full-spectrum agency in about five decades.
INCOSPAR, the Indian National Committee for Space Research, is formed
ISRO is established under Dr Vikram Sarabhai
Aryabhata, India's first satellite, is launched with Soviet assistance
Rohini becomes the first satellite placed in orbit by an Indian launch vehicle, the SLV-3
Chandrayaan-1 confirms water molecules on the Moon
The Mars Orbiter Mission enters Mars orbit at the first attempt
Chandrayaan-3 soft-lands near the lunar south pole; the date becomes National Space Day
Aditya-L1 is launched towards the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1
NISAR is launched jointly with NASA; Shubhanshu Shukla flies to the ISS on Axiom Mission 4
ISRO's programme is unusual among space agencies in how tightly it is tied to development objectives. Communications and Earth observation satellites underpin weather forecasting, cyclone warnings, crop assessment, fisheries advisories, telemedicine and tele-education — applications that justify the programme in domestic terms long before any prestige mission does. The exploration missions serve a different purpose: Chandrayaan-1's confirmation of lunar water and Chandrayaan-3's south-polar landing matter scientifically because water ice in permanently shadowed polar craters is the resource any sustained lunar presence would depend on. The commercial dimension is a third strand, with 434 foreign satellites launched to date establishing India as a competitive launch provider. Looking forward, the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the planned Bharatiya Antariksh Station, the Venus Orbiter Mission and Chandrayaan-4's sample-return objective mark the shift from single-mission achievements to sustained capability.
ISRO founded 15 August 1969 by Vikram Sarabhai; HQ Bengaluru; under the Department of Space
Aryabhata 1975 (first satellite); Rohini 1980 (first by an Indian vehicle, SLV-3)
Chandrayaan-1 (2008) confirmed lunar water; Chandrayaan-2 (2019) orbiter works, lander failed
Chandrayaan-3 (23 August 2023) soft-landed near the lunar south pole — National Space Day
Mangalyaan reached Mars orbit at the first attempt (2014)
Aditya-L1 at Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1; AstroSat is the multi-wavelength observatory; XPoSat studies X-ray polarisation
NISAR: world's first dual-frequency L-band and S-band radar imaging satellite
Gaganyaan (human spaceflight) and the Bharatiya Antariksh Station are the forward programmes
ISRO was established on 15 August 1969 under the leadership of Dr Vikram Sarabhai. Its predecessor, INCOSPAR, had been formed in 1962. It is headquartered at Bengaluru and functions under the Department of Space.
Chandrayaan-1, launched in 2008, confirmed the presence of water molecules on the Moon, particularly near the lunar poles.
It achieved a soft landing near the lunar south pole on 23 August 2023 — the first mission by any country to do so. The date is now observed as National Space Day in India.
Aditya-L1 is India's solar mission, studying the Sun and its corona from a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1, about 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, where it can observe the Sun without interruption.
NISAR, developed jointly by NASA and ISRO, is the world's first dual-frequency radar imaging satellite, using both L-band and S-band radar to study Earth's surface changes including earthquakes, landslides, glaciers and forests.
Gaganyaan is India's human spaceflight programme. Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's 18-day stay aboard the International Space Station on Axiom Mission 4 in 2025 provided direct human spaceflight experience supporting it.