Science and Technology: July 2024 to June 2026
This compilation covers two years of developments in space, defence technology, AI and digital policy, biotechnology, and quantum computing , every development that UPSC will test.
Space
Gaganyaan: India's Human Spaceflight Programme
The Gaganyaan programme achieved its defining milestone. After two uncrewed test flights (TV-D1, October 2023 and TV-D2, July 2025), the crewed mission launched in June 2026. Four IAF test pilots , Group Captains Prashanth Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap, and Shubhanshu Shukla , were the designated crew. The crew module, carrying three astronauts, orbited Earth for three days at an altitude of 400 km before splashing down in the Arabian Sea. India became the fourth country (after the US, Russia, and China) to send humans to space using indigenous technology.
The TV-D1 test (October 2023) demonstrated the Crew Escape System , the ability to eject the crew module from the launch vehicle in an emergency. The TV-D2 test (July 2025) was an end-to-end uncrewed mission that tested the environmental control and life support system, the crew module's re-entry, and the parachute-based splashdown. The success of both uncrewed tests cleared the path for the crewed mission.
Key facts for Prelims: Gaganyaan = India's first human spaceflight mission. Crew module = Vyommitra (the humanoid robot that flew on the uncrewed missions, named from the Sanskrit words for "space" and "friend"). Launch vehicle = LVM3 (formerly GSLV Mk III). Astronauts trained at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia. ISRO's Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) in Bengaluru is the lead centre.
Chandrayaan-4: Lunar Sample Return Mission
Following Chandrayaan-3's successful soft landing near the lunar south pole (August 2023), ISRO launched Chandrayaan-4 in February 2026. This is a sample return mission , the most technologically complex Indian space mission to date. The mission has four modules: a Propulsion Module, a Lander Module, an Ascender Module (which lifts off from the lunar surface), and a Return Module (which brings the samples back to Earth). The landing site is near the south pole, close to the Chandrayaan-3 landing site (Shiv Shakti Point). Samples are expected to return to Earth by mid-2026.
Chandrayaan-4 is a joint mission with Japan's JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). JAXA is providing the rover (named LUPEX , Lunar Polar Exploration), which will explore the permanently shadowed regions of the south pole where water ice is believed to exist. This is a significant development in India-Japan space cooperation.
NISAR: The NASA-ISRO Earth Observation Satellite
The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite was launched in May 2025 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. NISAR is the most expensive Earth observation satellite ever built (estimated cost: $1.5 billion). It uses dual-frequency radar (L-band by NASA, S-band by ISRO) to map the Earth's surface every 12 days. It can detect changes in land surface as small as 1 centimetre. Applications: monitoring glacier retreat in the Himalayas, measuring land subsidence due to groundwater extraction, tracking deforestation, estimating crop yields, and assessing damage from earthquakes and landslides. NISAR is the first major NASA-ISRO collaboration on a satellite mission.
Other ISRO Missions
| Mission | Date | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Aditya-L1 | September 2023 (launch), January 2024 (arrival at L1 point) | India's first solar observation mission. Studying the Sun's corona, solar wind, and magnetic field from the L1 Lagrange point (1.5 million km from Earth). The Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) is the primary payload |
| XPoSat | January 2024 | India's first X-ray polarimetry satellite. Studying X-ray emissions from black holes, neutron stars, and active galactic nuclei |
| SSLV-D3 | August 2024 | The third and final developmental flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle. The SSLV was declared operational. It can carry 500 kg to Low Earth Orbit. Designed for the commercial small satellite launch market |
| NVS-02 | January 2025 | The second of India's second-generation navigation satellites (NavIC , Navigation with Indian Constellation). NavIC provides positioning services over India and the surrounding region. It is India's equivalent of the US GPS, Russia's GLONASS, and China's BeiDou |
| Venus Orbiter Mission (Shukrayaan-1) | Approved 2025, launch 2028 | India's first mission to Venus. Will study the Venusian atmosphere, surface, and ionosphere. ISRO is collaborating with French (CNES) and Russian (Roscosmos) space agencies |
Defence Technology
GE F414 Engine Deal and the Shakti Programme
The India-US GE F414 engine deal, announced during PM Modi's state visit to Washington (June 2023), made significant progress. In April 2026, the GE-HAL facility in Bengaluru began manufacturing components for the F414 engine. The deal involves 80% technology transfer , the highest ever for a US defence technology transfer to India. The engines will power the Tejas Mk 2 fighter aircraft and the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). The first India-made F414 engines are expected by 2029.
Simultaneously, India is developing a next-generation fighter jet engine with France (the "Shakti" programme, announced during President Macron's Republic Day visit in January 2024). India's DRDO and France's Safran are co-developing a 110 kN thrust engine , more powerful than the GE F414 (98 kN). This dual-track approach (US engine for near-term, Indo-French engine for the long term) is a textbook example of strategic autonomy in defence.
Indigenous Defence Acquisitions
| Platform | Status | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Tejas Mk 1A | First squadron operational (2025) | Indigenous Light Combat Aircraft. 83 ordered by the IAF. Mk 1A has an AESA radar and improved avionics |
| Tejas Mk 2 | Prototype testing (2025-26) | Larger, more powerful variant with the GE F414 engine. Can carry more weapons and fuel |
| AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft) | Design phase | India's fifth-generation stealth fighter. Twin-engine. DRDO and HAL are developing it. First flight expected 2030 |
| INS Vikrant | Fully operational (2024) | India's first indigenous aircraft carrier. Built by Cochin Shipyard. Operates MiG-29K fighters. Rafale-M fighters (procured from France in 2026) will replace the MiG-29Ks |
| INS Arihant class | INS Arighat commissioned (2024) | India's second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN). India now has a credible nuclear triad: land (Agni missiles), air (fighter-delivered), and sea (Arihant class submarines) |
| Akash-NG (New Generation) | User trials completed (2025) | Indigenous surface-to-air missile. Replaces the aging SA-3 Pechora and SA-6 Kvadrat systems acquired from the Soviet Union |
The Agnipath Scheme: Two Years On
The Agnipath scheme for recruiting soldiers on a four-year short-service contract (launched June 2022) has been operational for three recruitment cycles by June 2026. The scheme remains controversial: it has reduced the defence pension bill (which consumes approximately 25% of the defence budget), but has been criticised for creating a class of "temporary soldiers" without long-term career security. The government has introduced several modifications: 25% of Agniveers are retained in regular service (up from the original proposal), and states have introduced quotas for Agniveers in police and paramilitary recruitment.
Defence Exports
India's defence exports reached ₹21,000 crore in 2025-26, up from ₹10,745 crore in 2021-22. The largest export items: BrahMos missiles (to the Philippines, in a $375 million deal , India's largest single defence export order), artillery guns, and patrol vessels. India's defence export target is ₹35,000 crore by 2029. The growth is attributed to the government's push for defence indigenisation (the positive indigenisation list bans the import of 411 defence items) and the creation of defence industrial corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
AI, Digital Policy, and Regulation
Digital India Act, 2025
The Digital India Act, 2025 replaced the Information Technology Act, 2000. It is India's comprehensive framework for the digital ecosystem. Key provisions:
| Provision | Details |
|---|---|
| Intermediary liability | Social media platforms, search engines, and content-sharing platforms are "intermediaries" with conditional immunity. They must remove flagged unlawful content within 24 hours. They must appoint a Grievance Officer, a Chief Compliance Officer, and a Nodal Contact Person in India |
| Online gaming | Skill-based games permitted. Games of chance (betting, gambling) prohibited. A self-regulatory organisation (SRO) oversees the industry |
| AI regulation | High-risk AI systems (those affecting fundamental rights, safety, or employment) must be registered with the government, audited for bias and accuracy, and explainable. The Supreme Court's AI and Fundamental Rights judgment (May 2025) guided many provisions |
| Data localisation | Critical personal data must be stored exclusively in India. Sensitive data may be transferred abroad with explicit consent. Non-personal data is freely transferable |
India's AI Strategy
The IndiaAI Mission, launched in 2024 with a ₹10,372 crore budget, has made progress. By 2026, 18,000 GPUs have been procured for public AI compute infrastructure. The IndiaAI Datasets Platform, a repository of anonymised, non-personal government data for training AI models, is operational. The government is building a domestic large language model (LLM) , BharatGPT , in collaboration with IITs, IISc, and private sector partners.
India hosted the Global AI Summit of the Global South in New Delhi (January 2025), positioning itself as the voice of developing countries on AI governance. The summit's New Delhi Declaration on AI called for: (a) equitable access to AI compute and training data, (b) AI systems that work in all languages (not just English), (c) a global framework for AI in agriculture, healthcare, and education (which are priority sectors for the Global South, unlike the West where AI regulation focuses on privacy and labour displacement).
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
India's DPI , Aadhaar (identity), UPI (payments), and the Account Aggregator framework (data sharing with consent) , has been India's most successful technology export. By 2026, UPI is operational in seven countries (Singapore, UAE, Bhutan, Nepal, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, and France). India has signed DPI cooperation agreements with over 30 countries. The G20 Delhi Declaration (2023) endorsed the Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR), a database of successful DPI implementations that any country can adopt. India contributed UPI, Aadhaar, and the Co-WIN platform to the GDPIR.
The Global DPI Summit, held annually since 2024, has become a flagship event for India's technology diplomacy. The World Bank's G20 DPI report estimated that India's DPI has saved the government $33 billion by reducing leakage in welfare transfers (through Aadhaar-DBT) and reducing transaction costs (through UPI).
Data Protection and the DPDP Act
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, was notified with rules in 2024. By 2026, the Data Protection Board of India (DPBI) is operational. The Act's implementation has been gradual: the consent framework for private data processing is fully operational, but the government exemption clause (Section 17) has been modified following the Supreme Court's DPDP Act Review judgment (May 2026).
Biotechnology and Health Technology
mRNA Vaccine Platform Development
India's first indigenous mRNA vaccine platform, developed by Gennova Biopharmaceuticals (Pune), received WHO pre-qualification in 2025. The platform, initially developed for COVID-19 (Gemcovac-19, the world's first thermostable mRNA vaccine, approved in 2022), has been adapted for other diseases: an mRNA vaccine for H5N1 avian influenza (in clinical trials) and an mRNA therapeutic cancer vaccine (in collaboration with the Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai). India is now one of five countries (US, Germany, China, South Korea, India) with indigenous mRNA vaccine development capability.
Genome India Project
The Genome India Project, a government-funded initiative to sequence 10,000 Indian genomes, completed its first phase in 2025. Key findings: India has over 55 distinct population groups with unique genetic variations. Specific genetic variants associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers have been identified in Indian populations. The project has created a reference Indian genome database that will enable precision medicine tailored to Indian genetic profiles.
CRISPR and Gene Editing
India approved its first CRISPR-based clinical trial in 2025: a gene-editing therapy for sickle cell disease, developed by CSIR-IGIB (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi) in collaboration with the Tata Memorial Centre. The therapy edits the patient's own blood stem cells to produce foetal haemoglobin, which compensates for the defective adult haemoglobin that causes sickle cell disease. India has the world's largest population of sickle cell disease patients (approximately 20 million carriers, 1.4 million patients), concentrated in tribal populations in central India. The National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission (launched 2023) targets elimination by 2047.
Quantum Computing and Emerging Technologies
The National Quantum Mission, launched in 2023 with a ₹6,000 crore budget, established its four Thematic Hubs in January 2025. By 2026, India has joined the small group of countries with operational quantum computing capability.
Quantum communication: A 2,000 km quantum communication link between Delhi and Bengaluru was established in 2025. This is a secure communication channel that uses quantum key distribution (QKD) , any attempt to intercept the communication is detectable because measuring a quantum state alters it. India is the seventh country to demonstrate QKD over this distance (after China, the US, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and Germany).
Semiconductor Mission: The India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), launched in 2021 with a ₹76,000 crore incentive package, has attracted major investments. The Micron semiconductor assembly and test facility in Sanand, Gujarat (announced 2023), began operations in 2025. The Tata-PSMC semiconductor fabrication plant in Dholera, Gujarat, is under construction (target: 2027). The Foxconn-HCL chip packaging facility in Karnataka was announced in 2026. India's objective is to build a complete semiconductor ecosystem , design (Bengaluru, Hyderabad), fabrication (Dholera), and assembly and testing (Sanand).