NCERT modules hail Isro missions, highlight India’s space journey

NEw new delhi: The subject Council of Educational search and grooming (NCERT) on sabbatum released two special modules on India’s space programmes, tracing the nation’s journey from transporting rockets on bicycles and bullock carts in the 1960s to emerging as a global leader in cost-effective space exploration with landmark Isro missions like Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1.The latest special modules highlight the country’s achievements from early innovations, modern-day achievements to upcoming Gaganyaan and Chandrayaan-4 missions. The modules also introduce students to Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to reach the International Space Station (ISS).Marking National Space Day 2025, the council released two special modules on India’s space journey—one for the middle stage (classes 6 to 8) and another for the secondary stage (classes 9 to 12), aimed at instilling curiosity and innovation in the next generation of space enthusiasts.Both, titled “India: A Rising Space Power,” open with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words from his address at the PSLV-C23 launch in Sriharikota: “Space may seem distant, but it is an integral part of our daily life. It drives modern communication and connects even the remotest family to the ordinary. India’s space programme is a perfect example of our vision of scale, speed and skill.” Both modules contain photographs, diagrams and timelines of India’s space missions to help students understand the nation’s space journey.NCERT modules are supplementary resources in English and Hindi that cover contemporary and culturally significant topics. They are separate short publications on specific topics that are not part of the textbooks but taught through projects, posters, discussions, and debates. NCERT has released 19 special modules so far including recent ones on India’s partition and Operation Sindoor.The special module on India’s space journey for the middle stage states that “India is doing incredible work in space science and technology and indeed rising as a space power. India built one of the world’s most esteemed space programmes with the least expenditure and smart choices.”The module highlights India’s space journey from humble beginnings with bicycles and bullock carts to becoming a global space power. India’s space programme began in 1962 with the formation of Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) under visionaries like Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. Homi Bhabha, evolving into Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) in 1969. Despite minimal resources, India launched its first rocket from Thumba, Kerala, on November 21, 1963—marking the start of a pioneering effort to use space technology for the benefit of ordinary citizens.The module states that India’s space journey began with Chandrayaan-1 (2008), which confirmed the presence of “water on the Moon” and followed by Mangalyaan (2013), where India became the first country to reach Mars orbit “on the very first attempt”. Chandrayaan-2 (2019) saw a successful orbiter but a “hard landing” of the Vikram lander and Chandrayaan-3 (2023) created history with a soft landing near the Moon’s south pole, the module states adding that PM Modi named the landing sites as “Shiv Shakti Point” and “Tiranga Point”, and declared August 23 as “National Space Day” beginning from 2023.The module introduces students to Aditya-L1 (2023), India’s first solar observatory, now stationed at Lagrange Point-1 to study the Sun without interruption. Under “Space Vision 2047”, India aims to build the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), launch Gaganyaan’s human spaceflight, and explore planets like Venus—showcasing its rise as a “global space power,” the module states.The middle stage module also features Sqn. Ldr. Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space, who flew aboard a Soviet mission in April 1984 and Shubhanshu Shukla, who became the first Indian to stay at the International Space Station (ISS)- “a giant laboratory floating 400 km above Earth.” and conducted experiments on muscles, brain activity, plant growth, and microbes in microgravity, before returning on July 15, 2025.The secondary stage module terms Shukla’s space journey “remarkable”and “a matter of national pride.” His presence aboard the ISS, the module says, led to the hoisting of the Indian flag on the station— “a symbolic moment celebrated across the country.”The secondary stage module states that India launched its first satellite Aryabhatta in 1975 for scientific research and the year marked the beginning of Satellite Instructional Television Experiment, or SITE through which television programmes reached villages, “teaching and connecting people across the nation.”“From this simple start, ISRO has grown into one of the most respected space agencies in the world. Today, it is a global leader in cost-effective space exploration—proving that big dreams can start small, but with determination, they can reach the stars,” module states while highlighting ISRO’s achievements of launching 160 satellites into different Earth orbits till August 2025 since its inception in 1969.The module states that India has completed 131 spacecraft missions, 101 launch missions, and even nine re-entry missions and has helped launch more than 433 foreign satellites from 35 different countries.The secondary stage module hails recently launched NISAR Mission (2025), a joint India–US satellite, as a “game changer” in Earth observation, mapping the entire planet every 12 days and detecting changes as small as a centimetre—crucial for studying climate change and managing natural disasters. It also states that upcoming Chandrayaan-4 will be India’s “most ambitious lunar mission”, targeting a “sample return” of 2–3 kg of Moon rocks and soil, putting India alongside the US, Russia, and China.Govind Yadav, CEO, Vyomika Space – a company which has set up space labs in rural schools in 10 Indian states, said, “When students read about India’s space journey and Indian cosmic heroes like Shubhanshu Shukla, they will realise that dreams of reaching the stars are possible. Such modules spark curiosity, make science exciting, and encourage every child to imagine themselves as future space explorers.”