Service of State
Indian Space Research Organisation
The Indian Space Research Organisation is India's national space agency and the research-and-development arm of the Department of Space, which reports directly to the Prime Minister. It builds and launches the country's satellites and launch vehicles, runs its planetary and human-spaceflight programmes, and now sits at the centre of a state-led opening of the sector to private industry. ISRO is a seat of power because space capability is simultaneously a scientific, economic, security and strategic-autonomy asset for the Indian state.
Updated
- Headquarters
- Bengaluru, Karnataka
- Parent
- Department of Space (reports to the PM)
- Dept. of Space budget FY2026-27
- ₹13,705.63 crore
- Founded
- 1969 (INCOSPAR, 1962)
Role
The Indian Space Research Organisation is the operational core of India’s space programme. It is the research-and-development arm of the Department of Space, an administrative department that reports directly to the Prime Minister rather than to a line ministry — a structure that gives space policy an unusually direct line to the top of government. ISRO designs and operates India’s launch vehicles (the PSLV, GSLV and LVM3), builds the country’s earth-observation, communication and navigation satellites, and runs its planetary science and human-spaceflight missions from centres including the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram and the launch complex at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
Since 2019–2020 the institution’s role has widened from doing the work itself to enabling an ecosystem. Its commercial arm, NewSpace India Limited, markets launch and satellite services; the regulator IN-SPACe authorises and promotes private space activity; and ISRO increasingly acts as an anchor customer and technology-transfer partner. The result is that ISRO is now a node in India’s economic and strategic-autonomy policy as much as a science agency: it supplies sovereign launch and reconnaissance capability, seeds a private industry the state wants to scale, and carries the flagship missions — a national space station and crewed spaceflight — that the government treats as markers of great-power status.
Desk maintained by IndiaStand editorial cycles. Officeholders are transient; this dossier tracks the institution.
Timeline since 1947
- reference
ISRO formed
The Indian Space Research Organisation was created in 1969, superseding the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) set up in 1962, to build an independent Indian space programme.
- reference
Aryabhata, India's first satellite
India's first satellite, Aryabhata, was placed in orbit, launched on a Soviet vehicle.
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First indigenous orbital launch (SLV-3)
The SLV-3 placed the Rohini satellite in orbit, making India capable of launching satellites on its own vehicle.
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Mars Orbiter Mission reaches Mars
India's Mangalyaan entered Mars orbit, making ISRO the first agency to reach Mars orbit on its first attempt.
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Chandrayaan-3 soft-lands near the lunar south pole
On 23 August 2023 the Vikram lander touched down, making India the fourth country to soft-land on the Moon and the first to do so near the south pole.
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Cabinet approves space station, expanded Gaganyaan and Chandrayaan-4
The Union Cabinet approved development of the first module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, an expanded Gaganyaan programme, the Chandrayaan-4 lunar sample-return mission and the Next Generation Launch Vehicle.
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SpaDeX in-space docking success
ISRO docked two small satellites using an indigenous docking system, making India the fourth nation to demonstrate autonomous in-space docking — a prerequisite for the space station and sample-return missions.
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Indian astronaut flies to the ISS on Axiom-4
A Gaganyaan astronaut-designate flew as pilot on the Axiom Mission 4 commercial flight to the International Space Station, the first Indian aboard the ISS and the first Indian in space since 1984.
Frequently asked
- What is Indian Space Research Organisation?
- The Indian Space Research Organisation is India's national space agency and the research-and-development arm of the Department of Space, which reports directly to the Prime Minister. It builds and launches the country's satellites and launch vehicles, runs its planetary and human-spaceflight programmes, and now sits at the centre of a state-led opening of the sector to private industry. ISRO is a seat of power because space capability is simultaneously a scientific, economic, security and strategic-autonomy asset for the Indian state.
- When was Indian Space Research Organisation established?
- Indian Space Research Organisation was established 1969.
- What does Indian Space Research Organisation do?
- Its remit covers Launch vehicles (PSLV, GSLV, LVM3) and next-generation vehicle development, Earth-observation, communication and navigation satellite constellations, Planetary and space-science missions (lunar, Mars, solar), Human spaceflight (Gaganyaan) and a planned national space station, Enabling commercial and private space activity via NSIL and IN-SPACe.
- What is the latest on Indian Space Research Organisation?
- As of 2026-07-05: Indian astronaut flies to the ISS on Axiom-4. A Gaganyaan astronaut-designate flew as pilot on the Axiom Mission 4 commercial flight to the International Space Station, the first Indian aboard the ISS and the first Indian in space since 1984.