How Russia and India are exploring space together
India is making significant strides in space exploration: it has landed a spacecraft near the Moon’s south pole, reached Mars on its first attempt, launched a solar observatory, and has placed over 400 foreign satellites into orbit. Even more ambitious projects are in the pipeline, many of them in collaboration with Russia. The partnership continues to grow, and Russia is now a key technological partner in India's manned space flight programme, which aims to send manned spacecraft into low Earth orbit.
Let’s look at how Russian–Indian cooperation in this sphere is developing and what opportunities this opens up for Indian businesses.
Countries with space programs 2025
Source: World Population Review
Why India needs a strong space programme
For India, space exploration is not just a matter of political prestige, but also a tool for addressing the country’s pressing development challenges.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is launching new missions every 1.5 to 2 years to study the Sun (Aditya-L1), the Moon (Chandrayaan-3), and Venus (Shukrayaan-1).
The commercial space sector is growing rapidly:
Russia: expertise, technology, and the search for new partners
Russia remains a global leader in several areas of the space sector.
Highest government expenditure on space programs in 2022 and 2024 by country (billion USD)
Source: Statista
Russian–Indian cooperation: from satellites to exploration
In recent years, cooperation between Roscosmos and ISRO has become more structured and is developing across several key areas, including the exchange of scientific expertise and technology and the implementation of joint projects.
Satellites and launch vehicles
Russia has strong capabilities in the production of heavy and super-heavy launch vehicles and is particularly interested in reducing their manufacturing costs, miniaturising payloads, and developing joint satellites—especially for communications and Earth observation.
Opportunities for Indian businesses:
Manned missions
In 2024, four Indian astronauts completed their training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre as part of the Gaganyaan programme. Russia has also supplied India with Sokol space suits and life support systems, and contributed to the development of the emergency safety system.
Areas for Indian involvement:
Lunar and Martian missions
India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission is now complete, and Chandrayaan-4 will involve sample return. Russia is continuing to develop the Luna 27 mission and is working on a long-term Mars mission together with organisations at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).
Indian companies and research institutes can contribute in the following areas:
Space science, personnel, and education
Russia and India are furthering their cooperation in space science and education. Indian specialists train at the Gagarin Training Centre and take part in joint research projects with the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Moscow Aviation Institute, and other organisations.
The two countries are working together to develop the fields of space medicine, astronomy and spectroscopy, materials science, and nanotechnology, which includes testing new coatings and structural materials for lunar and orbital missions.
Formats of collaboration:
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