The 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2025) was held in Sydney, Australia, bringing together the global space community. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) set up a prominent pavilion at the congress, showcasing six decades of India's space exploration milestones, from Aryabhata (1975) to Chandrayaan-3, Aditya-L1, and the upcoming Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme.
ISRO's pavilion highlighted several landmark achievements: Chandrayaan-3's successful soft landing near the Moon's south pole (August 2023), making India the fourth country to achieve a lunar soft landing and the first to do so near the south pole; Aditya-L1, India's first solar mission deployed to the L1 Lagrange point for studying the Sun's corona and solar winds; and Gaganyaan, India's indigenous human spaceflight programme targeting to send Indian astronauts (Vyomanauts) to low-Earth orbit.
The ISRO Chairman addressed the congress, emphasising India's growing role in the global space economy. He announced India's bid to host a future IAC — with Mumbai proposed as a potential host city — signalling India's ambition to position itself as a premier space-faring nation and a hub for international space collaboration.
The IAC, organised annually by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), is the world's largest gathering of space professionals and brings together government agencies, private space companies, and academia. The 2025 edition in Sydney attracted delegations from 99 countries, with significant discussions on lunar exploration, space sustainability, and commercial space.
India's space sector has seen rapid growth with the launch of IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) enabling private sector participation, and Agnikul Cosmos and Skyroot Aerospace emerging as significant private launch vehicle companies. The IAC platform provided India an opportunity to showcase this expanded ecosystem to the world.