National Space Day 2024: List of Important Space Missions by ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has a rich history of space exploration, marked by a diverse and ambitious array of missions that have propelled India to the forefront of global space research. From its humble beginnings with the launch of Aryabhata, India's first satellite, to its groundbreaking missions like Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan, and the upcoming Gaganyaan project, ISRO has consistently pushed the boundaries of scientific and technological innovation.

The organization's mission list reflects its evolution from launching basic satellites to undertaking complex interplanetary explorations, showcasing ISRO's commitment to advancing space science, contributing to global knowledge, and enhancing India's technological capabilities. This impressive portfolio not only underscores ISRO's achievements but also highlights its pivotal role in making space accessible for peaceful purposes.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has completed 125 spacecraft missions and 92 launch missions, showcasing its growing expertise in space technology. Among its upcoming projects are the ambitious Gaganyaan mission, which includes both crewed and robotic missions, as well as a series of interplanetary explorations such as the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission, Chandrayaan-4, Shukrayaan, and Mangalyaan-2 (MOM 2).

Science Instruments on Indian Satellites:

Many Indian satellites are equipped with scientific instruments, often as secondary payloads, that contribute valuable data to space science, even if their primary objectives lie elsewhere. For example, Aryabhata, India's first satellite, carried an X-ray payload, marking the beginning of India's contributions to space-based scientific research.

The Anuradha Cosmic Ray Experiment, flown aboard the STS-51-B Space Shuttle Challenger mission, is another notable example. This experiment involved a barrel-shaped recorder with plastic sheets designed to detect cosmic rays, recording seven detections per minute over 64 hours and generating an extensive dataset of 10,000 sheets.

Gamma-ray Detection in SROSS-C2:

The SROSS-C2 satellite, part of the Stretched Rohini Satellite Series, was equipped with a Gamma-ray burst detector. This instrument played a critical role in detecting and studying gamma-ray bursts, contributing to our understanding of these high-energy cosmic events.

Foreign Satellites Launched by India:

ISRO has also demonstrated its growing capabilities through the successful launch of numerous foreign satellites. These missions highlight ISRO's expanding role in international space collaboration and its ability to offer reliable and cost-effective launch services to other countries.

Here is the list of Completed and Planned Missions of ISRO:

Completed Missions:

Lunar

Mission Name		Start date	End date	Details
Chandrayaan programme	Chandrayaan-1	22 October 2008	28 August 2009	Chandrayaan 1 as India's first lunar probe. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation on 22 October 2008, and was operated until August 2009. The mission included a lunar orbiter and an impactor. The mission was a major boost to India's space program, as India researched and developed its technology to explore the Moon. The vehicle was successfully inserted into lunar orbit on 8 November 2008.
	Chandrayaan-2	22 July 2019	The orbiter was functional; the lander crashed onto the Moon's surface due to a loss of control (caused by a software glitch) during the final phase of descent.	Chandrayaan-2 was launched from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre on 22 July 2019 at 2:43 PM IST (09:13 UTC) to the Moon by an LVM3 (previously known as GSLV Mk III). The planned or by bit has a perigee of 169.7 km and an apogee of 45475 km. It consists of a lunar orbiter, lander, and rover, all developed in India. The main scientific objective is to map the location and abundance of lunar water.
	Chandrayaan-3	14 July 2023	10 November 2023 (Orbiter exited lunar sphere of influence)	Chandrayaan-3 was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on 14 July 2023 at 14:35 IST (UTC +5:30) by LVM3 M4. The main scientific objective is to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. The Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the moon on 23 August 2023 at 18:05 IST (UTC +5:30). For technology demonstration experiments, a hop experiment on the Vikram Lander was conducted and the Propulsion Module (PM) of Chandrayaan-3 was moved from an orbit around Moon to an orbit around Earth.

Solar

Mission Name	Start date	End date	Details
Aditya-L1	2 September 2023	TBD	Aditya-L1 is the first Indian observatory class mission to study the solar corona using a solar coronagraph and also the chromosphere using a near UV instrument. X-ray spectroscopic instruments will provide flare spectra while the in-situ payload observes the solar events during their passage from the Sun to Earth. On 6 January 2024, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, India's first solar mission, successfully entered its final orbit around the first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1), approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.

Interplanetary


Mission Name	Start date	End date	Details
Mars Orbiter Mission	5 November 2013	2 October 2022	Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, is a spacecraft orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). It is India's first interplanetary spaceflight mission and ISRO has become the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after the Soviet space program, NASA, and the European Space Agency. India is the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so in its first attempt.

Astronomy

Mission Name	Start date	End date	Details
ASTROSAT	28 September 2015	September 2022	ASTROSAT is the first dedicated Indian Astronomy satellite mission launched by ISRO on 28 September 2015, which enabled multi-wavelength observations of the celestial bodies and cosmic sources in X-ray and UV spectral bands simultaneously. It was in the Sun's orbit for 7 years. The scientific payloads cover the Visible (3500–6000 Å...), UV (1300–op Å...), and soft and hard X-ray regimes (0.5–8 keV; 3–80 keV). The uniqueness of ASTROSAT lies in its wide spectral coverage extending over visible, UV, soft, and hard X-ray regions.
X-ray Polarimeter Satellite	1 January 2024	TBD	The X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) is an ISRO space observatory to study the polarization of cosmic X-rays. It was launched on 1 January 2024 on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C58).XPoSat will study the 50 brightest known sources in the universe, including pulsars, black hole X-ray binaries, active galactic nuclei, and non-thermal supernova remnants.

Planned Missions

Mission name	Expected launch	Spacecraft	Details
SPADEX	Q3 2024 (TBD)	Space Docking Experiment	SPADEX or Space Docking Experiment is a twin spacecraft mission being developed by the ISRO to mature technologies related to orbital rendezvous, docking, and formation flying, with the scope of applications in human spaceflight, in-space satellite servicing, and other proximity operations.
NISAR	Q1 2025	SAR satellite	NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) is a joint project between NASA and ISRO to co-develop and launch a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar satellite to be used for remote sensing. It is notable for being the first dual-band radar imaging satellite.
Gaganyaan 1	NET 2025	Test flight (uncrewed)	Gaganyaan ("Orbital Vehicle") is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft (jointly made by ISRO and HAL) intended to be the basis of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The spacecraft is being designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capability. This will be the first of two flight tests before the inaugural crewed mission.
Gaganyaan 2	NET 2025	Test flight (uncrewed)	Second of two flight tests before the inaugural crewed mission.
Venus Orbiter Mission (Shukrayaan)	NET December 2024	Venus orbiter	The Indian Venus orbiter mission is a planned orbiter to Venus by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to study the atmosphere of Venus.
Mars Orbiter Mission 2	NET 2024	Mars orbiter	Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (MOM 2) also called Mangalyaan 2 is India's second interplanetary mission planned for launch to Mars by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in the 2021-2022 time frame. It will consist of an orbiter, as said by ISRO chairman, K. Sivan in an interview, but chances were that it will also include a lander and a rover later it was fully confirmed that it would be an orbiter mission only
Gaganyaan 3	NET 2025	Test Flight (uncrewed)	First crewed Gaganyaan mission. If successful, India would become the fourth country in the world (after the US, the Soviet Union, and China) to independently send humans into space.
Lunar Polar Exploration Mission	2026	Lunar lander, rover	Lunar Polar Exploration Mission is a concept mission by JAXA and ISRO to explore the south pole region of the Moon in 2025. The mission concept has not yet been formally proposed for funding and planning.
Chandrayaan-4	NET 2028	Lunar lander, sample return	Chandrayaan-4 is a planned lunar sample-return mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and will be the fourth iteration in its Chandrayaan program. It consists of four modules namely Transfer module (TM), Lander module (LM), Ascender module (AM), and Reentry Module (RM).
Bharatiya Antariksha Station	2028-2035	Space station	The Bharatiya Antariksha Station (referred to in the media as Indian Space Station) is a planned space station to be constructed by India and operated by the (ISRO). The space station would weigh 20 tonnes and maintain an orbit of approximately 400 kilometers above the Earth, where astronauts could stay for 15-20 days.
AstroSat-2	TBD	Space telescope	AstroSat-2 is India's second dedicated multi-wavelength space telescope, proposed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as the successor of the current Astrosat-1 observatory. ISRO launched an 'Announcement of Opportunity in February 2018 requesting proposals from Indian scientists for ideas and the development of instruments for astronomy and astrophysics.

The long list of missions undertaken by ISRO, which includes current initiatives, completed projects, and plans, is indicative of the organization's unwavering commitment to technological advancement and space exploration excellence. With every mission, ISRO keeps pushing the envelope of what is conceivable and strengthening India's standing in the international space community.