Vikram lands on the Moon
Medium
On 23 August 2023 Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander touched down gently near the Moon’s south pole.
- India now celebrates 23 August as National Space Day.
- The landing spot is called Shiv Shakti point.
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🇮🇳 18 pagesISRO Missions colouring pages
Chandrayaan, Aditya-L1, Mangalyaan, Gaganyaan and satellites.
Pragyan rolls out
Medium
Pragyan means wisdom. This six-wheeled rover rolled down a ramp and explored the Moon’s soil.
- Pragyan’s wheels left prints of the ISRO logo and India’s national emblem in the Moon dust.
- It found sulphur in the soil near the south pole.
Vikram and Pragyan at Shiv Shakti point
Tricky
The lander and the rover worked together for about two weeks of Moon daylight.
- A day on the Moon lasts about 14 Earth days.
- Vikram even did a little hop, lifting off and landing again!
Chandrayaan-1 circles the Moon
Medium
India’s first Moon mission, in 2008, orbited the Moon and helped find signs of water there.
- Chandra means Moon and yaan means vehicle.
- It dropped a small Moon Impact Probe that crashed on purpose to study the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2 orbiter
Medium
Launched in 2019, the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is still circling the Moon and taking sharp pictures.
- Its camera can spot things on the Moon as small as a car.
- Its pictures help plan where future landers can go.
Aditya-L1 watches the Sun
Medium
Aditya-L1 sits 1.5 million kilometres from Earth at a balancing spot called L1, looking at the Sun all day.
- Aditya is a Sanskrit name for the Sun.
- It studies solar storms that can affect satellites and power lines.
Mangalyaan at Mars
Medium
In 2014 Mangalyaan reached Mars on India’s very first try, after about 300 days in space.
- India was the first country to reach Mars orbit on its first attempt.
- It sent back pictures of Mars for about eight years.
Gaganyaan crew module in orbit
Medium
Gaganyaan is India’s human spaceflight programme. Its crew module will carry astronauts around Earth.
- The service module under the capsule gives it power and pushes it around.
- The crew module comes back home on its own, protected by a heat shield.
Gaganyaan splashdown
Medium
Coming home, the crew module opens big parachutes and lands gently in the sea, where a ship picks it up.
- The heat shield glows as the capsule rushes through the air.
- The parachutes slow the capsule down to a gentle splash.
SpaDeX: satellites shake hands
Medium
In January 2025 two ISRO satellites, Chaser and Target, found each other in orbit and docked together.
- India became the fourth country to dock spacecraft in space.
- Docking is a skill needed to build a space station.
Aryabhata, India’s first satellite
Medium
Built by ISRO and launched in 1975, Aryabhata was named after a great Indian mathematician and astronomer.
- It had 26 sides covered in solar cells.
- It appeared on the Indian two-rupee note.
AstroSat, India’s space telescope
Medium
AstroSat looks at stars and galaxies in many kinds of light at the same time.
- It was launched in 2015.
- It found faraway galaxies giving out ultraviolet light.
NavIC, India’s own GPS
Medium
NavIC satellites send signals that help phones, ships and cars in India know exactly where they are.
- NavIC stands for Navigation with Indian Constellation.
- Each satellite carries very accurate atomic clocks.
INSAT watches the weather
Medium
INSAT satellites watch clouds and storms over India so forecasters can warn people in time.
- They stay above the same spot on Earth all the time.
- Their pictures help track cyclones over the sea.
Cartosat makes maps
Medium
Cartosat satellites take very sharp pictures of the ground to help make maps of cities, farms and forests.
- Carto means map.
- Maps from space help plan roads and find where to plant trees.
NISAR and its giant umbrella
Tricky
NISAR was built by ISRO and NASA together. Its huge golden antenna opens like an umbrella in space.
- Its antenna is about 12 metres across, as wide as a bus is long.
- It can spot tiny movements of the ground, ice and forests.
XPoSat studies X-rays
Medium
XPoSat studies X-rays coming from black holes and dead stars far away in space.
- It was launched on 1 January 2024.
- X-rays are a kind of light our eyes cannot see.
Bharatiya Antariksh Station
Tricky
India plans to build its own space station, where gaganyatris can live and do science in orbit.
- It will be built piece by piece, one module at a time.
- Docking, like SpaDeX showed, is how the pieces join.