In a resounding affirmation of India’s growing prowess in space technology, the Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO) successfully launched on Sunday its heaviest communication satellite, CMS-03, aboard the LVM3-M5 rocket — nicknamed Bahubali for its immense power and reliability.
ISRO flexes its cosmic muscles as Bahubali launches LVM3-M5 rocket— a look at India’s glorious chapters among the stars
The lift off from Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 5:26 pm lit up the evening skies, symbolising India’s unstoppable ascent as a global space power.
Weighing approximately 4,410 kg, CMS-03 became the heaviest satellite ever launched from Indian soil into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
The multi-band satellite is designed to enhance communication services across the Indian landmass and surrounding oceanic regions. The LVM3-M5, standing 43.5 metres tall, demonstrated flawless performance, reaffirming India’s mastery over indigenous launch technology.
This was the fifth operational flight of the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) — a three-stage heavy-lift vehicle featuring two solid strap-on boosters (S200), a liquid core stage (L110), and an advanced cryogenic upper stage (C25).
The mission once again validated ISRO’s complete self-reliance in launching large payloads, a capability once reserved for global giants.
"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,” ISRO Chairman V Narayanan had said at an event last month.
India’s ambitious stride in space exploration
India’s space programme is now in one of its most dynamic and ambitious phases. What began as a quest for cost-effective satellite launches has evolved into a vision encompassing deep-space exploration, human spaceflight, and planetary science.
Over the past few years, India has achieved a string of remarkable milestones:
Under Chairman V Narayanan’s leadership, 2025, especially, has been one of the most productive years yet, with over 200 key achievements recorded.
From the release of 15 terabytes of Aditya-L1 data to in-space power transfer between docked satellites, India’s scientists continue to push boundaries once thought unattainable.
Expanding horizons: The roadmap to 2047
India’s long-term Space Vision 2047 outlines a bold path towards self-reliance, commercial leadership, and human exploration.
Key missions on this roadmap include:
Powering growth: Private sector and launch expansion
ISRO’s expanding ambitions are matched by an equally strong focus on commercialisation and collaboration. Through IN-SPACe and the Indian Space Policy 2023, the sector has been opened up to non-government entities (NGEs), resulting in the emergence of over 300 space startups across India.
These companies, working hand-in-hand with ISRO, are contributing new technologies, launch vehicles, and small satellites that will fuel India’s future missions.
To meet its growing launch demands, ISRO is scaling up its infrastructure:
"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 said.
A nation aiming for the stars
From Aryabhata’s humble beginnings in 1975 to Bahubali’s thunderous liftoff in 2025, India’s journey through space has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Each mission — from Mangalyaan’s triumph on Mars to Chandrayaan-3’s historic lunar landing — has reinforced India’s reputation as a leader in affordable, reliable, and visionary space exploration.
With the successful launch of CMS-03, India once again proved that it is not just participating in the global space race — it is redefining it.
As the nation looks toward Viksit Bharat 2047, its ambitions are clear: to not just reach the stars, but to make them part of its future.
ISRO flexes its cosmic muscles as Bahubali launches LVM3-M5 rocket— a look at India’s glorious chapters among the stars
The lift off from Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 5:26 pm lit up the evening skies, symbolising India’s unstoppable ascent as a global space power.
Weighing approximately 4,410 kg, CMS-03 became the heaviest satellite ever launched from Indian soil into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
The multi-band satellite is designed to enhance communication services across the Indian landmass and surrounding oceanic regions. The LVM3-M5, standing 43.5 metres tall, demonstrated flawless performance, reaffirming India’s mastery over indigenous launch technology.
This was the fifth operational flight of the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) — a three-stage heavy-lift vehicle featuring two solid strap-on boosters (S200), a liquid core stage (L110), and an advanced cryogenic upper stage (C25).
The mission once again validated ISRO’s complete self-reliance in launching large payloads, a capability once reserved for global giants.
"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,” ISRO Chairman V Narayanan had said at an event last month.
India’s ambitious stride in space exploration
India’s space programme is now in one of its most dynamic and ambitious phases. What began as a quest for cost-effective satellite launches has evolved into a vision encompassing deep-space exploration, human spaceflight, and planetary science.
Over the past few years, India has achieved a string of remarkable milestones:
- Chandrayaan-3 (2023): India became the first country to land near the Moon’s South Pole and the fourth globally to achieve a soft landing, marking a historic triumph in lunar exploration.
- Aditya-L1 (2024): India’s first solar observatory successfully reached its halo orbit around the Sun–Earth L1 point, about 1.5 million km away, to study solar radiation and magnetic storms.
- XPoSat (2024): Launched to study cosmic X-ray polarisation, it made India only the second country in the world to operate such a mission.
- Test Vehicle Abort Demonstration (TV-D1, 2024): A crucial step for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission, this test validated the crew escape system, ensuring astronaut safety in emergencies.
- NISAR (NASA–ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar Mission, 2025): A landmark Indo-US collaboration, NISAR became the first satellite mission to use a dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) system, capable of capturing highly detailed, all-weather, day-and-night images of nearly all of Earth’s land and ice masses every 12 days.
- Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX, 2025): India became the fourth nation to demonstrate successful in-orbit docking, a milestone essential for future space stations and orbital refuelling missions.
Under Chairman V Narayanan’s leadership, 2025, especially, has been one of the most productive years yet, with over 200 key achievements recorded.
From the release of 15 terabytes of Aditya-L1 data to in-space power transfer between docked satellites, India’s scientists continue to push boundaries once thought unattainable.
Expanding horizons: The roadmap to 2047
India’s long-term Space Vision 2047 outlines a bold path towards self-reliance, commercial leadership, and human exploration.
Key missions on this roadmap include:
- Gaganyaan (Human Spaceflight): The first uncrewed flight is targeted by the end of 2025, followed by a crewed mission by 2027, which will place Indian astronauts in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
- Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS): The first module is planned by 2028, with full completion expected by 2035, establishing India’s own space station.
- Chandrayaan-4 (Lunar Sample Return): Under design and approval, this mission aims to bring back lunar rocks and soil — a first for India.
- Venus Orbiter Mission (2028): India’s inaugural mission to study Venus’s surface and atmosphere.
- Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV): A reusable heavy-lift rocket under development, expected by 2032, designed to drastically cut launch costs.
- Crewed Lunar Landing (2040): The long-term dream — to land an Indian astronaut on the Moon — is already part of India’s extended space roadmap.
Powering growth: Private sector and launch expansion
ISRO’s expanding ambitions are matched by an equally strong focus on commercialisation and collaboration. Through IN-SPACe and the Indian Space Policy 2023, the sector has been opened up to non-government entities (NGEs), resulting in the emergence of over 300 space startups across India.
These companies, working hand-in-hand with ISRO, are contributing new technologies, launch vehicles, and small satellites that will fuel India’s future missions.
To meet its growing launch demands, ISRO is scaling up its infrastructure:
- New spaceport at Kulasekarapattinam, Tamil Nadu, focused on the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).
- Third launch pad at Sriharikota, with a Rs 400 crore allocation, aimed at supporting simultaneous missions.
- A goal to increase launch frequency to 50 missions per year by 2029, a fivefold leap from current rates.
"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 said.
A nation aiming for the stars
From Aryabhata’s humble beginnings in 1975 to Bahubali’s thunderous liftoff in 2025, India’s journey through space has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Each mission — from Mangalyaan’s triumph on Mars to Chandrayaan-3’s historic lunar landing — has reinforced India’s reputation as a leader in affordable, reliable, and visionary space exploration.
With the successful launch of CMS-03, India once again proved that it is not just participating in the global space race — it is redefining it.
As the nation looks toward Viksit Bharat 2047, its ambitions are clear: to not just reach the stars, but to make them part of its future.
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