India’s space agency Isro launches into overdrive in 2026

NEW DELHI: India’s space agency is about to have a very busy few months. The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has packed seven launches into the coming quarter, marking one of its most ambitious schedules yet. The missions range from commercial satellite deployments to technology demonstrations that could reshape how India builds spacecraft.

First up, possibly next week, is the LVM3—India’s heaviest rocket—which will hoist the Bluebird-6 communications satellite into orbit for AST Spacemobile, an American firm. The mission is being handled by New Space India Limited (NSIL), ISRO’s commercial arm, proving that India’s space business is open for, well, business.

But the real showstopper comes early next year. The human-rated LVM3 will carry Vyommitra, a humanoid robot, on the first uncrewed Gaganyaan mission. Think of it as a dress rehearsal before Indian astronauts head to low Earth orbit in 2027. The mission will test everything from aerodynamics to re-entry and recovery. Another uncrewed flight will follow later in the year, because when you’re sending humans into space, you check your homework twice.

Indian industry gets its moment too. The country’s first privately built Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will launch the Oceansat satellite, along with an Indo-Mauritius joint satellite and LEAP-2, developed by Dhruva Space. To keep the commercial pipeline flowing, NSIL has contracted a HAL-L&T consortium to build five more PSLVs under a technology transfer deal signed in September.

Other missions include an Isro-built PSLV carrying the EOS-N1 earth observation satellite (for a “strategic user”—make of that what you will) plus 18 smaller satellites. The GSLV-Mk II will launch EOS-5, replacing the ill-fated GISAT-1 that failed to reach orbit in 2021.

Perhaps most intriguing is the TDS-01 satellite aboard PSLV63, which will demonstrate quantum key distribution and a high-thrust electric propulsion system. The latter could be a game-changer: current four-tonne communications satellites lug around more than two tonnes of liquid fuel. With electric propulsion, that drops to a mere 200kg. Same power, half the weight. It’s the spacecraft equivalent of swapping a lorry for a sports car.

Jitendra Singh, the union minister overseeing space, told parliament that technologies proven on TDS-01 will be deployed in navigation and communications missions soon after. India is also testing an indigenous travelling wave tube amplifier, a critical component for satellite transponders, because self-reliance is the name of the game.

Before March, Isro’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle will also fly a dedicated mission. 

Seven launches in three months? That’s not a schedule. That’s a statement.