Science, Space, Technology & Defence 2025

1. ISRO in 2025: Docking, NISAR and Heavy Launches

ISRO had a busy 2025 under its new Chairman, V. Narayanan, who took charge in January 2025 after S. Somanath. There were big successes, such as space docking and NISAR, and two setbacks.

SpaDeX and the 100th Sriharikota launch

• SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) was launched on PSLV-C60 on 30 December 2024 with two satellites, SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target).
• The two satellites docked on 16 January 2025. India became the fourth country to achieve space docking, after the USA, Russia and China.
• The satellites were undocked on 13 March 2025, and a second docking was done in April 2025.
• On 29 January 2025, GSLV-F15 launched the navigation satellite NVS-02. It was the 100th launch from Sriharikota.
• NVS-02 could not be raised to its planned orbit because engine valves did not open, according to ISRO's analysis.

NISAR and other 2025 launches

• NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), the first joint satellite of ISRO and NASA, was launched on GSLV-F16 on 30 July 2025 from Sriharikota.
• NISAR carries two radars: L-band (by NASA) and S-band (by ISRO). It is in a sun-synchronous orbit at about 743 km and will map Earth's land and ice surfaces.
• On 18 May 2025, PSLV-C61 carrying EOS-09 failed due to a problem in the third stage.
• On 24 August 2025, ISRO completed the first Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-01) for the Gaganyaan crew module's parachutes.
• On 2 November 2025, LVM3-M5 launched CMS-03 (about 4,400 kg), the heaviest communication satellite launched to GTO from Indian soil. It serves the Indian Navy and oceanic regions.
• On 24 December 2025, LVM3-M6 launched BlueBird Block-2 (about 6,100 kg) for US firm AST SpaceMobile, the heaviest payload ever launched by LVM3.

💡 Match rocket to satellite: GSLV-F15 → NVS-02, GSLV-F16 → NISAR, PSLV-C61 → EOS-09, LVM3-M5 → CMS-03, LVM3-M6 → BlueBird.

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2. Axiom-4, Shubhanshu Shukla and India's First Chip

In June 2025, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force became the first Indian to visit the International Space Station (ISS). In September 2025, India also showcased its first indigenous 32-bit microprocessor.

The Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission

• Ax-4 was a private mission by the US company Axiom Space, with NASA and SpaceX; ISRO took part for India.
• It was launched on 25 June 2025 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in the Crew Dragon capsule named 'Grace'.
• The capsule docked with the ISS on 26 June 2025. The crew stayed about 18 days on the station.
• They undocked on 14 July and splashed down off the coast of California on 15 July 2025.

Crew and India's experiments

• Crew: Peggy Whitson (USA, commander), Shubhanshu Shukla (India, mission pilot), Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (Poland) and Tibor Kapu (Hungary).
• Shukla became the second Indian in space after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma (1984), and the first Indian on the ISS.
• He carried out seven India-designed microgravity experiments, including sprouting moong and methi seeds, microalgae and stem-cell studies.
• The experience is meant to help India's own human spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan.

Semiconductors and technology

• At Semicon India 2025 in New Delhi (2 September 2025), Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw presented the first 'Made in India' chips to PM Modi.
• These included 'Vikram', a 32-bit processor made by ISRO's Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL), Mohali (Punjab), for use in rockets.
• The government said this marked progress under the India Semiconductor Mission.

💡 Rakesh Sharma (1984, Soviet Soyuz T-11) and Shubhanshu Shukla (2025, Axiom-4) are the two Indians sent to space by the government; do not confuse them with Kalpana Chawla or Sunita Williams, who flew with NASA.

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3. Defence and Security: Operation Sindoor and New Inductions

Defence was a major news area in 2025. After a terror attack in Pahalgam, India carried out Operation Sindoor. The armed forces also commissioned new warships and retired the MiG-21. Facts below are from official statements.

Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor

• On 22 April 2025, terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists, at Baisaran near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir.
• On 23 April 2025, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) decided to hold the Indus Waters Treaty (1960) in abeyance and closed the Attari Integrated Check Post.
• On 7 May 2025, India launched Operation Sindoor. The Ministry of Defence said it struck nine terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
• The Ministry described the strikes as 'focused, measured and non-escalatory' and said no Pakistani military facilities were targeted in that strike.
• Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri briefed the media along with Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.
• On 10 May 2025, Foreign Secretary Misri announced that India and Pakistan had reached an understanding to stop firing and military action, after the Pakistani DGMO contacted his Indian counterpart.

Navy and Air Force milestones

• 15 January 2025: INS Surat (destroyer), INS Nilgiri (frigate) and INS Vaghsheer (submarine) were commissioned together in Mumbai.
• 28 April 2025: India signed a contract with France for 26 Rafale Marine fighter jets for the Navy.
• 26 August 2025: stealth frigates INS Udaygiri and INS Himgiri (Project 17A) were commissioned together at Visakhapatnam.
• 26 September 2025: the Indian Air Force retired its MiG-21 fighters at a ceremony in Chandigarh, after about six decades of service.

Other defence facts

• Defence production reached a record of about Rs 1.51 lakh crore in 2024-25, according to the Ministry of Defence.
• India test-fired the Agni-V intermediate-range ballistic missile from Chandipur, Odisha, on 20 August 2025.
• On 28 July 2025, security forces said three terrorists linked to the Pahalgam attack were killed in Operation Mahadev near Srinagar.

💡 Write a date chain: 22 April (attack) → 23 April (CCS) → 7 May (Sindoor) → 10 May (stop firing) → 28 July (Mahadev).

📝 5-question quiz on this lesson: enrol free to take it and track your score.