India's New-Age Space Technologies: NGLV, SpaDeX, NavIC

A backgrounder issued on 28 October 2026 sets out the technologies carrying India's space programme towards self-reliance. The story starts with a sounding rocket flown from Thumba in Kerala on 21 November 1963 and runs up to the planned Bharatiya Antariksh Station.

How the programme began

Organised space work in India began in 1962 with the Indian National Committee for Space Research, set up on the vision of Dr Vikram A. Sarabhai. The Indian Space Research Organisation took its place on 15 August 1969 and was brought under the Department of Space in 1972.

Launch vehicles, old and new

PSLV can place up to 1,750 kg in a Sun-synchronous polar orbit; GSLV, with the indigenous cryogenic upper stage, carries satellites of the two-tonne class; LVM3 lifts the four-tonne class to geosynchronous transfer orbit and the ten-tonne class to low Earth orbit; SSLV weighs about 120 tonnes at lift-off. In September 2024 the Union Cabinet cleared the Next Generation Launch Vehicle with an outlay of Rs 8,240 crore, covering development, three developmental flights and facilities. It is designed for 30 tonnes to low Earth orbit, three times what LVM3 manages, and a partly reusable version of 14 tonnes is also being built.

Reusability and propulsion

ISRO has flown its winged technology demonstrator Pushpak in three landing experiments, on 2 April 2023, 22 March 2024 and 23 June 2024. India flight-tested a scramjet on 28 August 2016, reaching Mach 6 and becoming the fourth country to demonstrate the technology. On 27 March 2025 a 1,000-hour life test of an indigenous 300 mN stationary plasma thruster was completed for electric propulsion.

Docking, navigation and new satellites

Through SpaDeX, India became the fourth country to demonstrate space docking, after the United States, Russia and China. Its satellites first docked on 16 January 2025, repeated the feat with full autonomy from 15 m on 20 April 2025 and transferred power between the docked craft the next day. NavIC, the country's regional navigation system, serves India and up to 1,500 kilometres beyond the mainland. GSAT-N2, launched on 19 November 2024, offers about 48 Gbps, while CMS-03, also called GSAT-7R, went up on 2 November 2025 for the Indian Navy. The NISAR mission, launched on 30 July 2025 aboard GSLV-F16, is the first to use two radar frequencies together and observes land and ice every 12 days.

The space economy

The Department of Space has set a target of US$44 billion for India's space economy by 2033. NewSpace India Limited has signed 118 technology transfer agreements covering 83 ISRO technologies, and cumulative investment in Indian space start-ups stood at about US$618.5 million as on 31 March 2026.