Recent Current Affairs related to Space

The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, orbiting the Moon since 2019, has provided evidence of subsurface water ice deposits within the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) of lunar south polar craters. This study, conducted by the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad, was published in the Nature Portfolio Journal (NPJ) Space Exploration.

Researchers utilized the Dual-Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR) to analyze ‘doubly shadowed craters’ within the PSRs. The findings from a 1.1 km crater in the Faustini Basin indicate an impact into an ice-rich subsurface that briefly flowed before refreezing.

An international team of researchers led by Dr. Ronaldo Laishram from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) has discovered an ancient cosmic structure named the “Loktak Protocluster”.

Located 12.6 billion light-years away in the constellation Sextans, the structure allows astronomers to observe the universe as it existed when it was only 1.2 billion years old (9% of its current age).

It is named after Loktak Lake in Manipur, the largest freshwater lake in Northeast India, famous for its “phumdis” (floating masses of vegetation). The discovery was made by integrating data from the Japan-based Subaru Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) of NASA.

The Ministry of Jal Shakti has signed an MoU with the ISRO to enhance water resource management using satellite technology. The collaboration involves joint research across 24 key areas. It is to be noted that the Ministry has already supported 113 research projects in the water sector over the past decade.

Additionally, the third phase of the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (JSJB) campaign has been launched, aiming to create 2 crore water conservation structures between June 2026 and May 2027. The previous phase of the campaign successfully created over 1.5 crore water conservation structures.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has unveiled a $20 billion, 3-phased plan to establish a permanent lunar base equipped with rovers and drones.

The plan aims to set up the base by March 2027, with the objective of landing astronauts on the moon in 2028. The mission is structured into 3 phases: Moon Base-I (2026-2028), Moon Base-II (2029-2032), and Moon Base-III (2032 onwards).

The Birla Institute of Technology Mesra (BIT Mesra) has signed an MoU with the North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), which functions under the Department of Space (DoS) and the North Eastern Council (NEC).

The MoU is valid for 5 years and aims to strengthen cooperation in the fields of geospatial technologies, Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI), remote sensing, and higher education.

China has launched the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft carrying 3 astronauts to the Tiangong Space Station for scientific research and orbital operations.

The spacecraft was launched onboard a Long March-2F Y23 (LM-2F Y23) carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The mission marks the first spaceflight of the country expected to support a year-long human residency in orbit. It is scheduled to conduct over 100 scientific experiments during its orbital tenure.

Red Balloon Aerospace has launched “Mission SANA”, the first indigenous super-pressure platform of India carrying commercial payloads from 7 national and international partners.

The launch places India among only 5 nations globally, alongside the United States, France, Japan, and China, to possess indigenous stratospheric (hydrogen) balloon capability.

The VISTA super-pressure platform of the company ascended to an altitude of 25 km above Earth from the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. It is to be noted that Red Balloon Aerospace, established in 2025, achieved operational commercial flight within an 8-month timeframe.

The Department of Space (DoS) has approved the establishment of Common Technical Facilities (CTFs) in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The initiative aims to strengthen the space ecosystem of India by promoting domestic manufacturing capabilities and supporting the growth of the space sector industry base.

Under this, a Space Manufacturing Park will be established at Khoraj, Gujarat, while a Space Vehicles Cluster will be set up at Thoothukudi, TN.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission of the ISRO has received the 2026 Goddard Astronautics Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

The award was presented at the Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery (ASCEND) 2026 Conference held in Washington DC, USA. Vinay Kwatra, the Ambassador of India to the USA, accepted the award on behalf of ISRO.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have successfully launched a joint spacecraft named “Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE)” onboard the Vega-C rocket from the Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana.

It is to be noted that the scientific observations are scheduled to begin 3 months post-launch, and the SMILE mission is projected to operate for a duration of 3 years to improve protection against solar and geomagnetic storms.

Professor Kuljeet Kaur Marhas has been elected as a Fellow of The Meteoritical Society, becoming the first Indian woman to receive this distinction. She is the third Indian scientist to be awarded this international honour, following space scientists Devendra Lal and JN Goswami.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), under the Department of Consumer Affairs, has organized the 35th Plenary and Working Groups meetings of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 20 / Subcommittee (SC) 14. The meetings for the ‘Space Systems and Operations’ subcommittee were hosted for the first time in India at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

The event saw the participation of 131 international delegates from 13 countries. It is to be noted that the ISO/TC 20/SC 14 is responsible for developing international standards for space systems to ensure safety and sustainability in global space activities.

Prabhat Kumar, the High Commissioner of India to South Africa, has handed over the official banner of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) to the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town. The banner will be permanently displayed at the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) facility.

It is to be noted that the IUCAA, situated in Pune, is an institution dedicated to research and education in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics.

Pixxel, a space technology enterprise, has secured a contract from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) of the USA under the Commercial Systems Program Office (CSPO).

The agreement focuses on the development of advanced hyperspectral remote sensing capabilities, a technology used to identify materials and chemical processes, utilizing the Firefly satellite constellation.

The Karnataka government has inaugurated the Centre of Excellence for Space Technology (CoE SpaceTech Foundation) in Bengaluru, marking the first state-led center in India dedicated to the space sector.

The foundation was established by the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) in collaboration with the SatCom Industry Association of India (SIA-India). It aims to bridge the gap between academic research and the commercialisation of space technologies to enhance industrial development.

SpaceX has launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA.

The mission deployed the CAS500-2 Earth observation satellite of the Republic of Korea and 45 secondary rideshare payloads into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). It is to be noted that the operation was conducted as a multi-customer rideshare mission to facilitate the orbital placement of various technological instruments.

Skyroot Aerospace has become the first space-technology unicorn of India after raising $60 million (₹570 crore) in a funding round, reaching a valuation of $1.1 billion. The company will use the capital to scale manufacturing operations and accelerate the development of the ‘Vikram’ series of rockets.

Bengaluru-based GalaxEye has launched “Mission Drishti”, the largest and heaviest privately developed Earth observation satellite (EOS) of India to date. The 190 kg satellite was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket of SpaceX from California, USA. It is the world’s first operational “OptoSAR” satellite, which combines Electro-Optical (EO) sensors and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) on a single platform. This allows for 24/7 all-weather surveillance through clouds, rain, and darkness, providing high-resolution imagery at 1.5-meter.

It is to be noted that the EOS uses the NVIDIA Jetson Orin platform for onboard AI to process data in orbit for faster results. This mission is the first step toward a planned constellation of 8 to 12 satellites by 2029 to 2030 for real-time global coverage.

Pixxel has partnered with Sarvam to develop and operate the first orbital data centre satellite of India named “Pathfinder”. The 200 kg-class spacecraft is projected to be deployed in orbit by the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2026.

It is to be noted that Pixxel will handle the design, construction, and launch of the satellite, while Sarvam will integrate an AI framework to facilitate on-orbit training and inference through full-stack language models.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has launched the Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite–Earth Observation-3 (PRSC-EO3) of Pakistan onboard the Long March-6 rocket.

The mission, conducted from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi, China, successfully placed the satellite into its designated orbit. It is to be noted that this marks the 640th mission of the Long March series of rockets.