Country dossier · IND

India

Leading space power

A sourced snapshot of India's posture in space — capability, institutions, orbital assets, law and people. Every figure carries its primary source; gaps are shown honestly, never filled with invented data.

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Capability tier

Leading space power

Launches to orbit from its own territory: yesLaunch sites on record: 4Nationals who have flown: 5

Source: ALL IN SPACE capability ladder · see methodology

Space agency

ISRO

National space agency · established 1969 · two-source verified

Source: UNOOSA · Worldwide Space Agencies directory

Satellites (owner state)

111

Counted from the GCAT May 2026 snapshot. The interactive workspace shows a live CelesTrak figure, which uses different owner-attribution rules and will differ.

Source: GCAT · General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (J. McDowell) · May 2026 snapshot

Ground stations

31

Source: ALL IN SPACE curated ground-station dataset (operator-sourced)

Space budget

$1.6B

Developing spender · 2026 · ISRO

Source: Indian Union Budget · Department of Space

National strategy

Indian Space Policy 2023 (2023)

Cabinet-approved policy liberalising private sector participation, with ISRO focused on R&D, NSIL on commercialisation and IN-SPACe as the authorising regulator.

Source: Published national space strategies and policies

International space law

InstrumentStatus
Outer Space Treaty 1967Ratified
Rescue Agreement 1968Ratified
Liability Convention 1972Ratified
Registration Convention 1975Ratified
Moon Agreement 1979Signed only
Artemis Accords 2020Signatory (2023-06-22)

Source: Status of international agreements relating to activities in outer space (1 January 2026)

Launch sites

  • Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC SHAR)Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) · Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh · orbital · since 1971
  • Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS)ISRO / VSSC · Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala · suborbital · since 1963
  • Kulasekarapattinam SpaceportISRO · Kulasekarapattinam, Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu · orbital (under construction)
  • Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island) Integrated Test RangeDefence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) · Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha · suborbital test · since 1989

Source: National launch site roster · ALL IN SPACE compilation

Astronauts

  • Rakesh SharmaIndian Air Force / Soviet space program · first flight 1984 · First Indian in space
  • Shubhanshu ShuklaISRO / Axiom · first flight 2025 · First Indian on the ISS; Gaganyaan crew
  • Prasanth Balakrishnan NairISRO · first flight 2024 · Gaganyaan astronaut-designate; not yet flown
  • Ajit KrishnanISRO · first flight 2024 · Gaganyaan astronaut-designate; not yet flown
  • Angad PratapISRO · first flight 2024 · Gaganyaan astronaut-designate; not yet flown

Source: Astronaut biographies

Milestones

  • 1963First orbital launch from national soil
  • 1969ISRO established
  • 1984First national in space

Notable missions and contributions

  • Chandrayaan-3 (lunar south pole landing 2023)
  • Mars Orbiter Mission Mangalyaan (2014)
  • Aditya-L1 solar observatory (2023)
  • NavIC regional navigation system
  • GSAT communication satellites
  • SpaDeX Space Docking Experiment (launched on PSLV-C60 on 30 Dec 2024; achieved India's first autonomous in-orbit docking on 16 Jan 2025, making India the fourth nation after the US, Russia and China to demonstrate space docking, using the indigenous Bharatiya Docking System)
  • NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) Earth-observation satellite, launched 30 July 2025 on a GSLV from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota; the first joint NASA-ISRO satellite, carrying L-band (NASA) and S-band (ISRO) radars to map nearly all of Earth's land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days
  • Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), 2025: Shubhanshu Shukla flew as pilot aboard SpaceX Dragon 'Grace' (splashdown 15 July 2025), becoming the first Indian aboard the International Space Station, as a Gaganyaan stepping stone