Brief Context
Context Recently, the Indian Space Situational Awareness Report for 2025 (ISSAR-2025) was released by ISRO during the inaugural session of the 2nd international conference on Spacecraft Mission Operations (SMOPS-2026) at Bengaluru. Key Findings of ISSAR-2025 Rising Space Congestion: Around 1.6 lakh close approach alerts globally, with over 1.5 lakh alerts for Indian satellites. Growth of mega-constellations (Starlink, Kuiper, etc.) likely to further increase collision risks.
Source Content
Syllabus: GS3/Science & Technology; Space
Context
- Recently, the Indian Space Situational Awareness Report for 2025 (ISSAR-2025) was released by ISRO during the inaugural session of the 2nd international conference on Spacecraft Mission Operations (SMOPS-2026) at Bengaluru.
Key Findings of ISSAR-2025
- Rising Space Congestion: Around 1.6 lakh close approach alerts globally, with over 1.5 lakh alerts for Indian satellites.
- Growth of mega-constellations (Starlink, Kuiper, etc.) likely to further increase collision risks.
- Collision Avoidance Measures (CAMs): Total CAMs for Indian satellites include 14 manoeuvres (including NISAR mission) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), 4 manoeuvres in Geostationary Orbit (GEO), and 2 special adjustments for Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter.
- Orbit manoeuvre optimisation used to avoid dedicated CAMs wherever possible.
- It reflects growing dependence on Space Situational Awareness (SSA) systems.
- Record Space Activity in 2025: 328 launch attempts (highest ever), and 315 successful launches;
- 4,198 operational satellites added; and total 4,651 new space objects added
- These show exponential increase in space utilisation and commercialization.
- Atmospheric Re-entries: 1,911 objects re-entered Earth’s atmosphere in 2025 that include 1,002 spacecraft, 657 debris, 108 rocket bodies, and 144 unidentified.
- It is lower than 2024 due to reduced de-orbiting, and lower solar activity.
- Growth of Satellite Constellations: Large constellations (e.g., Starlink, Kuiper) rapidly expanding. By the end of 2025, 9,396 Starlink satellites are still in orbit.
- Active satellites may outnumber space debris, increasing coordination complexity.
- Solar Activity Impact: Peak of Solar Cycle 25 caused higher orbital decay rates, and increased early-year re-entries.
What is Space Debris?
- Space debris refers to non-functional, human-made objects in outer space that no longer serve any useful purpose but continue to orbit the Earth.
- It includes defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, fragments from collisions or explosions, and tiny particles (paint flakes, metal pieces, etc.).
Key Features
- Found mainly in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geostationary Orbit (GEO)
- Travels at very high speeds (≈7–8 km/s)
- Even small fragments can damage operational satellites
Indian Space Scenario
- Total 144 Indian spacecraft launched till 2025.
- Operational satellites: 22 in LEO; and 31 in GEO
- Active deep space missions: Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter; and Aditya-L1
- 5 launches from Sriharikota in 2025; NASA-ISRO (NISAR) successfully launched; PSLV-C61 failure (suborbital anomaly); SpaDeX mission demonstrated docking capability.
Implications for India and the World
- Increasing Space Traffic Management Needs: More satellites lead to higher collision probability, and active satellites may outnumber debris.
- Threat to Critical Infrastructure: Satellites support communication, navigation (NavIC), weather forecasting, and defence.
- Any collision can disrupt essential services.
- Kessler Syndrome Risk: Increasing congestion may lead to space traffic management challenges and risk of Kessler Syndrome.
- Cascade of collisions leading to unusable orbital zones.
India’s Response and Preparedness
- ISRO’s Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Initiatives: Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) for continuous monitoring and risk mitigation.
- ISRO System for Safe and Sustainable Space Operations Management (IS4OM) as nodal SSA body.
- Indigenous radar & telescope systems under development.
- Debris Free Space Mission (DFSM) target: debris-free missions by 2030
- Efficient Manoeuvre Planning: Adjusting routine orbit corrections to avoid separate Collision Avoidance Measures (CAMs); and optimizing fuel and mission life.
- ISRO engages with private actors, in synergy with the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), for handholding and experience sharing for best practices related to spaceflight safety.
- International Collaboration: Data sharing with global agencies (e.g., US Space Command)
- India participates in Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), and UN space sustainability initiatives
- Coordination with international agencies for space safety