200 milestones behind it in 2025, Isro readies for Gaganyaan tests

For India’s space sector, 2025 will be remembered as a year defined by milestones.

- SHINE JACOB

According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), the year saw nearly 200 significant achievements, ranging from the 100th rocket launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre to Shubhanshu Shukla joining the elite ranks of Indian human space flight travellers, following Rakesh Sharma in 1984, and India becoming only the fourth country to master space-docking technology.

The country is now poised for yet another defining moment: The first of three uncrewed test launches under Gaganyaan, marking the final countdown to India’s crewed space mission scheduled for 2027. Isro Chairman V Narayanan told the media in Tirunelveli late last week that the first unmanned rocket test launches as part of Gaganyaan could take place in December. But industry sources said that the dates are yet to be finalised and could well slip into the first half of 2026.

Gaganyaan is Isro’s ambitious programme to place a three-member crew of Indian astronauts into a 400-kilometre orbit around the Earth for a three-day mission. Reports suggest that around ₹20,000 crore has so far been allocated to the programme.