India’s Space Push Quickens With Heaviest LEO Payload Yet and Early-2026 Launch Targets

Overview

• ISRO’s LVM3 recently delivered the 6,100 kg BlueBird Block-2 communications satellite to low Earth orbit, its heaviest LEO payload to date.
• The agency has set seven launches by the end of March 2026, including the first uncrewed Gaganyaan test flight.
• India has placed nearly 390 foreign satellites in the past decade, with PSLV’s success rate reported around 94% and per-mission prices roughly $21–31 million.
• Official figures cite about $172 million from US launch contracts and €292 million from Europe over the last decade as 2020 reforms help grow 200-plus domestic space startups.
• Key 2025 milestones included the ISRO–NASA NISAR Earth-observation mission in July and the June Ax-4 flight that carried Indian astronaut Group Capt. Shubhanshu Shukla to the ISS.