ISTRAC inaugurates Golden Jubilee Celebrations: 50 Years of Tracking India’s Space Odyssey
Bengaluru. The ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), one of the ground segment arms of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was established on September 6, 1976. The yearlong Golden Jubilee Celebrations commenced on September 10, 2025 in Bengaluru.
ISTRAC headquartered in Bengaluru is responsible for providing ground segment network for Earth Observation, Space Science & Interplanetary Satellites and all launch vehicle Missions of ISRO and also providing support to other agencies launch vehicle missions. With stations spread across India and abroad, ISTRAC, manages deep space tracking and space situational awareness, playing pivotal role in the success of India’s space endeavours. Since 1976, ISTRAC has played a key role in enabling ISRO’s missions, right from early satellite launches to contemporary interplanetary exploratory missions and human spaceflight missions in the coming days.
The Golden Jubilee Celebrations was inaugurated by Dr. V. Narayanan, Secretary, Department of Space / Chairman, ISRO in the presence of eminent dignitaries including Former Secretaries, DoS/Former Chairmen, ISRO, former Director’s of ISTRAC and Directors of other ISRO Centres/Units.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Department of Space / Chairman, ISRO, lauded ISTRAC’s contribution to India’s space programme, noting, that ISTRAC has been the silent backbone of every mission. He appreciated ISTRAC for its dedication, innovation, and resilience thus ensuring the success of ISRO’s ambitious journeys, from Aryabhata to Chandrayaan, Mars Orbiter Mission and now Gaganyaan including the tracking support extended by ISTRAC to NSIL commercial missions from other space agencies. Specifically, he touched upon the efficient and excellent contributions of ISTRAC handling large number of ground stations and meticulous planning of spacecraft operation for complex missions such as Mars Orbiter Mission, Chandrayaan-1, 2, 3, SPADEX-first Docking Experiment Mission of ISRO and ISRO-NASA Synthetic Aperture Radar Mission.
On this glorious occasion, Former Secretaries, DoS/Former Chairmen, ISRO and Former Directors of ISTRAC also appreciated ISTRAC for its various achievements and recollected the fond memories of the days they had spent in ISTRAC during various space exploration missions of ISRO. The event also showcased ISTRAC’s evolution from a single station at Sriharikota to a vast global network with capabilities in mission operations, deep space tracking and space surveillance.
As a part of the celebrations, a coffee table book showcasing ISTRAC’s capabilities and achievements was released along with the Golden Jubilee Logo. Secretary, DoS / Chairman, ISRO also formally inaugurated ISTRAC’s newly designed website “Spandan” and released the coffee table book.
