India's cosmic leap: A billion dreams will see visits to Moon, Mars and Venus

REACHING for the stars is becoming an everyday affair at India’s space agency, having visited the Moon and Mars with orbital missions, now eyes are set on a mission to Venus and a sample return from the Moon.

- By Pallava Bagla

Human space flight to fly an Indian citizen on an Indian rocket from Indian soil where the countdown will also be by India, is also taking shape fast.

India’s space journey reached new heights with the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 nearer the Moon’s South Pole on 23 August 2023, making India the first country to achieve this feat. This mission demonstrated ISRO’s capability in precision lunar landing and roving. The Vikram lander even performed a hop experiment, and the propulsion module was later maneuvered into Earth orbit for extended operations 2.

Building on this momentum, ISRO achieved its 100th rocket launch in January 2025, launching a navigation satellite, showcasing India’s indigenous cryogenic engine technology.

The pinnacle came with the 30 July 2025 launch of the nearly $ 1.3 billion NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar or NISAR satellite, a joint Indo-US Earth observation mission. Launched aboard India’s GSLV. F-16, NISAR features dual-frequency SAR payloads from NASA and ISRO, and will monitor climate change, disasters, and agriculture 5. ISRO

Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan hailed it as a symbol of India’s technological leadership and global collaboration, emphasising the precision and reliability of India’s cryogenic launch systems.

Landmark achievement

In a landmark achievement for India’s space program, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla completed a 20-day mission, including 18 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), as part of the multinational Axiom-4 mission—dubbed Mission Akash Ganga. This marks India’s first human spaceflight since Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma in 1984. Prime Minister Modi hailed Shukla’s courage and dedication as inspiring a billion dreams.