As Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the second Indian to travel into space—this time aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket—the achievement brought both national pride and a sobering reflection on the current state of India’s space program.

While Shukla’s journey marks a significant milestone, it also highlights critical challenges facing the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), particularly in terms of mission reliability and execution.

Alarming Failure And Success Rates

In the period spanning the last quarter of FY24 through FY25, ISRO managed to successfully complete only 7 out of a targeted 30 space missions, translating to a disappointing 23% success rate.

Even more concerning, two of the seven missions launched from Sriharikota failed, resulting in a 29% failure rate—a figure that raises questions about operational robustness and technological reliability.

Disappointing 2025

It is undeniable that Dr. V Narayanan, the new chairman of ISRO, has encountered a challenging beginning to his leadership of India’s foremost space agency. In contrast, his predecessor, S Somanath, enjoyed an exceptionally successful tenure marked by a flawless track record and a strong rapport with colleagues, the public, and the media—thanks in large part to his effective communication skills. Somanath’s solid technical expertise was key in steering ISRO towards becoming a significant global space power. Dr. Narayanan must now urgently raise his performance to halt the recent string of setbacks currently troubling ISRO.

Considering this, the year 2025 proved to be a disappointing and challenging period for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), marked by the failure of both its major missions: the NVS-02 navigation satellite and the EOS-09 earth observation satellite.

On January 29, 2025, the NVS-02 navigation satellite, intended to replace the ageing IRNSS-1E and bolster India’s regional navigation system (NavIC), was launched aboard the GSLV-F15. However, a critical malfunction occurred when the pyro valve responsible for admitting oxidizer to the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) failed to open.

This prevented the satellite from performing its crucial orbit-raising manoeuvres, leaving it stranded in a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) instead of reaching its designated geostationary slot. While the satellite’s power, communication, and control systems remained healthy, its core mission was compromised.

ISRO engineers began exploring alternative strategies to utilize the satellite in its elliptical orbit, but the low perigee exposed it to atmospheric drag, threatening early re-entry and significantly reducing its operational value. This incident was particularly notable as such failures typically occur later in a satellite’s life, not immediately post-launch.

Just months later, on May 18, 2025, ISRO suffered another setback with the failure of the PSLV-C61 mission, which was to deploy the Earth Observation Satellite-09 (EOS-09). A technical anomaly in the rocket’s third stage—specifically a fall in chamber pressure—prevented the satellite from reaching orbit.

EOS-09, also known as RISAT-1B, was equipped with a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and designed for all-weather, day-and-night earth imaging, vital for border surveillance, disaster management, and resource monitoring. The loss of EOS-09 deprived India of a key surveillance asset, although ISRO indicated that other satellites, such as EOS-04, could temporarily fill the gap while a replacement is prepared.

The back-to-back failures were unsettling for ISRO, an agency with a strong track record and global reputation for reliability and cost-effectiveness. The financial impact of these failures is significant: the combined cost of the lost satellites, their replacements, and the associated opportunity costs are estimated to run into several hundreds of crores of rupees. Beyond the direct financial loss, these setbacks highlight vulnerabilities in India’s space infrastructure and the urgent need for a more robust satellite constellation to ensure uninterrupted surveillance and navigation services.

In response, ISRO has initiated detailed technical analyses to identify the root causes of both failures. The agency is also considering accelerating its plans to expand its satellite fleet and collaborating with private and international partners to enhance resilience and recovery speed. Despite these setbacks, ISRO remains committed to its mission, leveraging its operational satellites and planning for future launches to restore and strengthen India’s space capabilities.

Comparison With Global Players

The scale of ISRO’s shortfall becomes stark when compared to global competitors. For instance, SpaceX conducted 134 orbital launches in 2024 and 78 in 2025, dwarfing India’s output and underscoring the need for ISRO to accelerate both its pace and reliability of launches if it hopes to remain relevant in the rapidly evolving global space sector.

Missed Milestones And Costly Setbacks

The government’s 2024 “integrated launch manifesto” ambitiously set a target of 30 launches—including commercial, non-commercial, and seven test flights for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight program.

However, actual performance has fallen far short. The two failed missions mentioned above were particularly damaging. The PSLV-C61 mission failed due to a third-stage anomaly, while the GSLV-F15’s payload was lost to a valve malfunction, both resulting in significant financial and strategic losses.

Underlying Challenges

These setbacks highlight deeper issues within ISRO, including:

Technological Vulnerabilities: Both recent failures were attributed to hardware malfunctions—specifically, a pressure drop in the PSLV-C61’s third stage and a pyro valve malfunction in the GSLV-F15.

Resource Constraints And Overambitious Planning: The plan to triple the average annual launch rate (from six to thirty) appears to have outpaced current capabilities, stretching resources thin and increasing the risk of failure.

Need For Process And Quality Improvements: Internal reviews and failure analysis are underway, but systemic changes may be necessary to ensure future reliability.

Looking Ahead

Despite these challenges, ISRO is preparing for upcoming milestones, including the first PSLV rocket produced by the HAL-L&T consortium and the long-awaited NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission, scheduled for launch later this year. Additionally, uncrewed test flights for the Gaganyaan program are planned for 2025, which are critical for India’s ambitions in human spaceflight.

Strategic Imperative

If ISRO does not urgently address these ground realities—by strengthening technological rigour, improving mission planning, and fostering greater private sector participation—the aspirational goal of achieving a $44-billion space economy by 2033 will remain out of reach. The current trajectory underscores the need for a recalibrated approach that balances ambition with operational discipline, ensuring that India’s space program can compete on the world stage and deliver on its promises.

IDN (With Agency Inputs)