The Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, is not a commercial operator in the usual sense but a state agency tasked with giving India independent space capability. It sits under the Department of Space, which reports directly to the Prime Minister’s Office. That structure means ISRO is less a research outfit and more a strategic arm of the Indian state.

Its record is mixed but significant. On the launch side, it built the PSLV into a dependable medium-lift vehicle that gave India a role in the global rideshare market. GSLV and the newer LVM-3 provide heavier lift, though not with the cadence or payload capacity of Western or Chinese rivals. India has ambitions for reusable launch, but for now the program is incremental.

On the satellite side, ISRO developed the INSAT and GSAT series for communications and meteorology, and the IRS series for remote sensing. These are not cutting-edge platforms, but they provide India with sovereignty in broadcasting, telecom, and earth observation. Navigation comes through NavIC, a regional GNSS that New Delhi insists on for strategic independence even though its civilian uptake is weak.

The most visible projects are the high-profile planetary missions. Chandrayaan-3 landed on the Moon in 2023 after the failure of its predecessor, and Mangalyaan put a probe around Mars in 2014. These wins serve domestic prestige and geopolitical signaling more than they serve science.

Commercialisation is handled through NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), which markets launch and satellite capacity abroad, and Antrix Corporation, which was ISRO’s earlier commercial arm but has been sidelined after corruption scandals. NSIL is meant to turn ISRO’s hardware into export revenue, though it remains constrained by bureaucracy.

The challenges are structural. Budgets are small compared to NASA, ESA, or China, which means programs take longer and ambitions are scaled to fit national needs rather than global competition. The industry is still dominated by ISRO rather than private actors, though liberalisation is slowly opening space for Indian startups.

ISRO’s purpose is clear. It exists to guarantee India’s autonomy in launch, space science, and satellite services, while projecting capability to the world. It is not trying to dominate the global market, but it is making sure India cannot be excluded from it.