New Delhi: During the inaugural session of the second international conference on Spacecraft Mission Operations (SMOPS-2026) in Bengaluru, ISRO released
the Indian Space Situational Awareness Report for 2025 (ISSAR-2025), outlining the Collision Avoidance Analysis (COLA) and Collision Avoidance Manoeuvres (CAMs) conducted over the course of 2025 to safeguard its orbital hardware. ISRO is committed to enhancing its monitoring capacity for activity in Earth orbit, and has outlined the efforts it has taken to bolster Space Situational Awareness (SSA) capabilities. Radar and optical telescopes are the ground-based facilities used for tracking hardware in orbit, including space debris.
ISRO is building SSA capacity through its Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) project. An optical telescope is being established at Hanle in Ladakh. The design and review of an indigenous phased array space object tracking radar was also completed by a national-level expert committee in 2025. ISRO is also taking efforts to establish an indigenously developed radar in Northeast India. The Multi-Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) instrument at Sriharikota currently tracks space objects, including the upper stages of Indian rockets expended after lunches, and satellites during their last orbits before reentry. The Baker Nunn Schmidt Telescope (BNST) in Nainital is also expected to enhance space object tracking.
India is committed to debris-free missions
India, like all responsible spacefaring nations, is committed to reducing space debris. In 2024, at the annual meet of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) in Bengaluru, the Debris Free Space Mission (DFSM) initiative was announced. The aim of the mission is that by 2030, all operations in space by both governmental and non-governmental Indian actors, would be debris free by adopting the necessary measures during the design, operation and disposal phases of the mission, ensuring that sufficient fuel remains on board for deeorbiting the satellite after a mission, instead of abandoning it in space. India produces the least amount of orbital debris among all spacefaring nations, and is committed to the sustainable use of outer space.
