The archive

News archive

Every dispatch, feature and dossier published by the Space Exploration .IN newsroom.

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet handling protein-crystallisation experiment containers aboard the International Space Station

In-space manufacturing

Serendipity Space details balloon-based drug-crystallisation test

The recovered Alchemy module exercised avionics and a return sequence, but the disclosed record does not establish microgravity production or orbital qualification.

15 August 20265 min read

ISRO diagram comparing iron fluorescence from a solar flare near the Sun's limb with a flare near the centre of the solar disk

Solar science

Aditya-L1 maps an iron X-ray echo across 47 major solar flares

The 6.40 keV signal tracked flare X-rays and weakened toward the solar limb, giving SoLEXS a possible way to constrain coronal source geometry—with important limits.

13 August 20266 min read

GalaxEye's Mission Drishti webpage showing the mission name, launch date, Falcon 9 vehicle and California launch site

Commercial Earth observation

GalaxEye loses contact with Drishti before OptoSAR payload test

The spacecraft proved early-orbit systems and in-house mission operations, but GalaxEye says imaging never began; its solar-storm explanation remains preliminary as two larger follow-on satellites are planned.

13 August 20265 min read

Policy

Government data puts private space investment at $618.5 million

The latest Parliament figures show capital and approvals rising after the 2020 reforms, while official documents leave key definitions unresolved and publish conflicting authorisation totals.

13 August 20266 min read

A bright semi-cryogenic engine exhaust plume firing vertically inside ISRO's Mahendragiri test stand

Launch

ISRO publishes 175-tonne semi-cryogenic power-head test result

The 88%-thrust firing exercised ignition build-up, steady-state operation and the main turbopumps, but a full-power power head, complete engine and flight stage still remain.

13 August 20265 min read

NISAR S-band radar view of the East Antarctic coast, showing glacier terrain, sea ice and dark ocean

Earth observation

NISAR S-band products enter daily release through Bhoonidhi

Cycle 25 data is now flowing into an eight-product catalogue with about 48-hour operational latency, while historical scenes and calibration refinements remain works in progress.

13 August 20266 min read

Launch

Vikram-1 reaches orbit on India’s first private orbital launch

Skyroot’s four-stage launcher placed two satellites in low Earth orbit on its maiden flight, crossing a threshold for India’s commercial launch ecosystem.

18 July 20268 min read

Editorial illustration of Aditya-L1 observing the Sun from the Sun–Earth L1 region

Solar science

Aditya-L1 opens a third cycle of observing time

With more than 30 TB of mission data already public, ISRO is inviting India’s solar-physics community to propose the observatory’s next investigations.

16 July 20266 min read

Editorial illustration of the SOLVE test vehicle ascending beside a descending crew capsule

Human spaceflight

The motor test shaping Gaganyaan’s next escape trials

SOLVE turns modified PSLV hardware into a flexible test bed for India’s crew-module parachute system. Here is what the first firing proved—and what comes next.

04 July 20267 min read

Conceptual illustration of a crew capsule heading from Earth to a modular Indian space station, and a separate lunar lander traveling toward the Moon

The 2047 dossier

From Gaganyaan to an Indian station in orbit

A mission-by-mission guide to the approved modules, return technologies and launch systems connecting today’s crew programme to Bharatiya Antariksh Station and a lunar landing.

28 April 202610 min read

Editorial illustration of tracking stations monitoring close approaches around an Indian satellite

Space safety

India’s orbital traffic report, decoded

ISSAR-2025 shows how a record launch year translated into more conjunction alerts, more manoeuvre reviews and a heavier operational burden for spaceflight safety.

16 April 20269 min read

Editorial illustration of three research participants approaching an analogue habitat in the mountains of Ladakh

Human factors

Mission MITRA puts crew teamwork under high-altitude stress

A week-long analogue campaign in Leh is studying how Gaganyatris and ground teams communicate, decide and adapt when isolation and thin air raise the pressure.

03 April 20267 min read