From Chandrayaan to Gaganyaan: ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan Takes IIT Delhi Through India’s Space Journey and the Road Ahead

(Photo: Dr. V. Narayanan, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, ISRO)
New Delhi: As India looks towards 2047, its journey towards a Viksit Bharat is not confined to the boundaries of Earth. It is being written in the rockets built on Indian soil, in the cryogenic engines the world once refused to share, and in the young engineers who will carry the country's ambitions in space still further. Dr. V. Narayanan, Secretary, Department of Space, and Chairman, ISRO, delivered an Institute Lecture at IIT Delhi on “India’s Space Programme: The Challenges and Way Forward” on September 23, 2026.

Before the Institute lecture in the iconic Dogra Hall, Dr. Narayanan engaged in an interaction with faculty of IIT Delhi from across different academic units, discussing modalities to strengthen the ongoing collaboration between ISRO and IIT Delhi and newer areas of collaboration of mutual interest, including solar panel technologies, biomechanics, etc.

Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Director of IIT Delhi, reflected on the significance of the space programme for the nation while welcoming Dr. Narayanan. "Space is one of the few areas where we have created indigenous technology that is globally competitive, and it serves as an inspiration for all of us,” Prof. Banerjee said. '

Dr. Narayanan traced India's space journey from its formal and humble beginning in 1962, when the country was still building its most basic capabilities in food security and literacy, to the present day. He recalled the country's first rocket launch from Thumba in November 1963, assembled with equipment gathered from across the world, and contrasted it with India's current capability to build and launch satellites for other nations on a fully commercial basis.

He spoke about the development of India's cryogenic propulsion systems, technology that was denied to India in the early 1990s by countries unwilling to share it. Recalling that period, he said, "This technology was denied to India, and today I can inform you that we have developed three cryogenic propulsion systems entirely on our own. When the world denied us the technology, we simply decided we would build it ourselves."

Dr. Narayanan spoke about the success of Chandrayaan-3, which made India the first country to achieve a soft landing near the Moon's south pole. On Chandrayaan-3, he shared, "23 August 2023 was a historic day for India. While only three countries had previously achieved a successful soft landing on the Moon, India became the fourth and the first to successfully land in the lunar south polar region.”

He also spoke of India's recent docking experiment in orbit, India being only the fourth country in the world to successfully execute an in-space docking operation, and of the country's growing precision in satellite placement, noting that India has been ranked number one in the world in more than nine distinct areas of space capability, including the discovery of water molecules on the Moon and Mars orbit insertion in the first attempt.

Turning to the way forward, Dr. Narayanan outlined India's roadmap for the coming decade, including the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, currently working towards its first uncrewed mission; the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, whose first module has already received project approval ahead of a planned launch by 2028, with subsequent modules to follow by 2035; Chandrayaan-4, designed to bring lunar samples back to Earth; and a Venus mission and a crewed lunar landing targeted for 2040. He also spoke of the development of a next generation launch vehicle capable of placing 30,000 kg in low earth orbit and of partially reusable launch vehicle systems currently under development.

Recounting the Axiom-4 mission, Dr. Narayanan said that based on insistence from the ISRO team, leakage detected in the launcher was rectified and the mission was accomplished successfully. While addressing the audience, he stated that the Indian education and training system is ‘second to none’.

Inspiring the young generation, Dr. Narayanan urged students to look beyond conventional career ambitions and towards national contribution, saying, "I request all of you just one thing. Your target should not be a job earning two or three lakhs. Your target should be to contribute to building a developed India by 2047."

He also briefed about the Space Sector Reform brought by the Government of India in 2020, and due to this, 440 numbers of space startups are working in the space sector, and the space economy is gradually growing.

He informed that based on the guidance and vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, ISRO is working on major projects such as building the Bhartiya Antariksh Space Station, Chandrayaan-4, Chandrayaan-5 and human landing on the moon. He added that by 2040, India aims to be second to none in launch capability, satellite capability and application areas, contributing directly to the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. 

The event was jointly organised by IIT Delhi’s Office of Academic Outreach and New Initiatives and the Co Curricular & Academic Interaction Council (CAIC). The Institute Lecture witnessed enthusiastic participation, with a large number of students attending the session and leaving the hall inspired.