Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 23 (ANI): Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman V Narayanan on Thursday said that the country's space sector has achieved remarkable progress in 2025 under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with more than 200 significant milestones recorded this year alone.

He was speaking at the curtain raiser of the Emerging Science, Technology, and Innovation Conclave 2025 in Bengaluru.

Narayanan emphasised that the upcoming Conclave 2025 will centre on Space Technologies, aimed at fostering synergy among multiple stakeholders and propelling collaborative efforts toward realising the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

Highlighting India's scientific advancements, the ISRO Chairman said, 'From January until now, over 200 significant accomplishments have been made under the visionary leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi.'

He recalled that on January 6, ISRO released nearly 10 terabytes of scientific data from the Aditya-L1 mission for the first time, followed by another release in February. 'Till date, we have made available around 15 terabytes of data from the mission,' Narayanan stated.

Marking a major technological breakthrough, he said India performed its first-ever on-orbit docking experiment, SPADEx (Space Docking Experiment), on January 16.

'This complex operation involved two satellites travelling at speeds of 28,400 km per hour, which were successfully aligned and docked using advanced algorithms, cameras, propulsion, and inertial systems. With this, India became the fourth country in the world to demonstrate successful in-space docking,' he added.

ISRO has since conducted de-docking and even power transfer between two satellites, further strengthening India's in-space capabilities.

He also mentioned the launch of GSLV-F15 on January 29, marking the 100th large vehicle mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, a key moment in India's space history.

Reflecting on India's space journey since its inception in 1962, Narayanan said, 'The first milestone came on November 21, 1963, when India launched its first sounding rocket from Tumba near Thiruvananthapuram. From those humble beginnings, India has made tremendous progress.'

He termed the July 30 launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite as another 'proud milestone'.

The joint mission, equipped with an L-band radar from NASA and an S-band radar from ISRO, represents one of the most significant collaborative efforts in the history of India's space programme.

The ISRO Chairman further announced that approval has been granted for the establishment of a third launch pad in Tamil Nadu, with a budget allocation of Rs 400 crore, a key step to boost India's launch capabilities.

Speaking about private sector participation in the space domain, Narayanan said that the Department of Space is actively promoting and supporting private companies and startups through IN-SPACe.

'We are hand-holding private players at every stage from development to testing. It is the responsibility of the Department of Space to enable the growth of the space ecosystem in India. We are extremely happy when the private sector does well and when startups grow. When these two happen, the space ecosystem grows, and the common man of this country benefits in a very big way,' he emphasised.

Narayanan reiterated that India's 60 years of accumulated expertise in space science is being shared with the private sector to ensure collective national progress.

'We must look at the sector not as different organisations, but as one nation working together,' he said. (ANI)