By R Anil Kumar
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ISRO To Launch US’ BlueBird-6 Satellite, Weighing 6.5 Tonnes by Year-End: Dr. V. Narayanan
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ISRO to launch CMS-03 satellite in November 2025: V Narayanan
Bengaluru, October 23, 2025. The Gaganyaan mission is progressing steadily with nearly 90 per cent of the development work being completed, ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said on Thursday, 23 October. The Gaganyaan mission is India’s first human spaceflight mission under development. “The Gaganyaan mission is going very well. In fact, when you talk about the Gaganyaan mission, a lot of technology development has to take place, you are aware — the rocket has to be human-rated, the orbital module has to be developed, and the environmental control safety system has to be developed.
Then coming to the crew escape system, parachute system and then, of course, human-centric products,” Narayanan said Speaking to R. Anil Kumar while responding to a question about the progress of the mission. He was speaking on the sidelines of the promotional activities for the upcoming Emerging Science, Technology, and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC-2025), scheduled to be held from November 3 to 5 in New Delhi. Narayanan said that approximately 90 per cent of the development work has been completed. “Now three uncrewed missions have to be accomplished before going for the crewed mission and we are working towards it.
In the first uncrewed mission, Vyommitra is going to fly and we are working towards that to accomplish the crewed mission by the beginning of 2027,” he added.
ISRO plans to conduct three uncrewed missions before the first crewed flight, which is now targeted for the first quarter of 2027. The initial uncrewed mission, designated Gaganyaan-1, is scheduled for December 2025 and will carry Vyommitra, a half-humanoid robot developed to simulate human functions in space.
Vyommitra will monitor environmental parameters, operate control panels, and validate the performance of onboard systems during the flight. This mission serves as a critical risk-mitigation step before human astronauts are launched.
Vyommitra, meaning “space friend,” is equipped with sensors to measure temperature, pressure, oxygen, and carbon dioxide levels, and can respond to commands in both English and Hindi. It will play a pivotal role in testing the environmental control and life support systems, avionics, and structural integrity of the crew module under actual space conditions.
On August 24, 2025, ISRO accomplished the first integrated air drop test for the Gaganyaan programme at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. According to ISRO, this test successfully demonstrated the objective of end-to-end performance validation of the critical parachute-based deceleration system of the crew module for the Gaganyaan mission in one of the typical mission scenarios.
“For the Gaganyaan programme, the integrated air drop test —when the entire module returns in the final phase almost nine parachutes have to work in a synchronised way for the proper splashdown — so we lifted off a simulated module using a helicopter to a height of around three kilometres above the Earth. Using nine parachutes, it was successfully splashed down,” the ISRO Chairman said.
ISRO To Launch US’ BlueBird-6 Satellite, Weighing 6.5 Tonnes by Year-End: Dr. V. Narayanan
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is gearing up for another collaboration with the US with its BlueBird-6 satellite, a 6.5-tonne satellite expected to be launched by the end of the year, said ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is gearing up for another collaboration with the US with its BlueBird-6 satellite, a 6.5-tonne satellite expected to be launched by the end of the year, said ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan.
The collaboration has come on the heels of the successful launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar Mission (NISAR) by ISRO in July.
“BlueBird is a communication satellite. We have received the satellite, and we are working on the launch. The launch vehicle build-up is going on,” Narayanan said.
“The date will be announced by the Prime Minister at the appropriate time,” he said, adding, “We are targeting to accomplish it before the end of this year.”
The Block-2 BlueBird communications satellite, developed by the US-based AST SpaceMobile, will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, aboard India’s most powerful rocket, the LVM3. BlueBird-6 is one of the heaviest commercial satellites, weighing 6.5 tonnes. The Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite arrived in India from the US on October 19.
ISRO to launch CMS-03 satellite in November 2025: Chairman V Narayanan ISRO has scheduled launch of its heavy-lift rocket LVM-3 to place in orbit CMS-03. “Next month beginning, we are going to have the LVM3-M5 lift off to place a CMS-03 satellite,” Narayanan said.
According to ISRO officials, the CMS-03 also known as GSAT7-R is likely to be launched on November 2. Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clearly outlined the space mission 2047, the ISRO chief said, Presently, India has around 56 satellites in the orbit serving the common man of this country. “In another three to four years timeframe, the number of satellites are going to be increased to something around three times, he said.
ESTIC-2025
The Emerging Science, Technology, and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC 2025), scheduled from November 3 to November 5 at Bharat Mandapam, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event will focus on accelerating breakthroughs in key scientific domains and fostering collaborations across sectors.
Speaking about the conclave, Narayanan said that the event is not only for ISRO but for all science and technology departments across the country.
“There are 13 science and technology departments involved. The event will mainly showcase our potential, appreciate talent, and understand the vision of each department — what lies ahead and how India’s industry and startup ecosystems are contributing to science and technology, along with academia,” the ISRO Chief said.
Dr. A. Rajarajan, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, stressed the need for a lunar module launch vehicle to enable the landing of an Indian on the Moon by 2040.
“We have configured a Lunar Module Launch Vehicle (LMLV), which is in the initial stages of design and configuration. It requires a 75,000 kg payload capability for LEO,” Rajarajan said.
“We are working on advancing the manufacturing capability of this vehicle in all aspects,” he added, while emphasizing the need for industry collaborations.
“Any vehicle development is challenging. It has its own cycle time. We have to establish an ecosystem to manufacture everything and incorporate all advancements that have happened globally to be on par by 2040,” Rajarajan said.
ESTIC 2025 is expected to unite Nobel Laureates, industry leaders, young innovators, women entrepreneurs, and emerging science leaders to define the next frontiers of scientific and technological innovation.
