Department of Space

This article is about the governmental department of India. For the general governmental topic, see Space agency. For the general military topic, see Space force.

The Department of Space (DoS)^[2] is an Indian government department responsible for administration of the Indian space programme. It manages several agencies and institutes related to space exploration and space technologies. The Indian space programme under the DoS aims to promote the development and application of space science and technology for the socio-economic benefit of the country. It includes two major satellite systems, INSAT for communication, television broadcasting and meteorological services, and Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) system for resources monitoring and management. It has also developed two satellite launch vehicles, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to place IRS and INSAT class satellites in orbit.

Department of Space

अंतरिक्ष विभाग Antarikṣ Vibhāg
Emblem of India
Department overview
Jurisdiction	Government of India
Headquarters	Antariksh Bhavan, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Annual budget	₹13,416.20 crore (US$1.6 billion) (2025–26)[1]
Minister responsible	Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
Deputy Minister responsible	Jitendra Singh Minister of State in the Department of Space
Department executive	V. Narayanan, Secretary of Space and Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation
Child agencies	Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) NewSpace India Limited (NSIL)
Website	www.isro.gov.in

History

In 1961, the Government of India and then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru entrusted the responsibility for space research and for the peaceful use of outer space to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), then under the leadership of Homi J. Bhabha. In 1962, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) set up Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR), with Vikram Sarabhai as chairman, to organise a national space programme.

In 1969, INCOSPAR was reconstituted as an advisory body under the India National Science Academy (INSA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was established. The Government of India constituted the Space Commission and established the Department of Space (DoS) in 1972 and brought ISRO under DoS management on 1 June 1972.

On 14 January 2025, V. Narayanan succeeded S. Somanath as the Secretary (Space) and ex-officio chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation and Space Commission.

Agencies and institutes

Organisation chart showing structure of the Department of Space

Map of centres of the Department of Space of the Government of India

The Department of Space manages the following agencies and institutes:^[3]

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) – The primary research and development arm of the DoS
  • Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram
  • Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Thiruvananthapuram
  • Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), Sriharikota
  • U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru
  • Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad
  • National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad
  • ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU), Thiruvananthapuram
  • Development and Educational Communication Unit (DECU), Ahmedabad
  • Master Control Facility (MCF), Hassan
  • ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bengaluru
  • Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS), Bengaluru
  • Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun
• Antrix Corporation – The marketing arm of ISRO
• Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad
• National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), Gadanki
• North-Eastern Space Applications Centre^[4] (NE-SAC), Umiam
• Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram – India's space university
• NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), Bengaluru
• Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN–SPACe)^[5][6]

Historical list of annual budget of department of space

Annual Budget of Department of Space over the years

Budget of Department of Space as percentage of Indian GDP

Department of Space budget as percentage of Total Expenditure

Calendar Year	GDP (2011-12 base year) in crores(₹)[7]	Total Expenditure in crores (₹)	Budget of Department of Space[8]				Notes and references
			Nominal INR (crore)	% of GDP	% of Total Expenditure	2023 Constant INR (crore)
1972-73	55245		18.2325000	0.03%		819.764	Revised Estimate as Actuals are not available [9][10]
1973-74	67241		19.0922000	0.03%		734.893	Revised Estimate as Actuals are not available [11][12]
1974-75	79378		30.7287000	0.04%		920.293	[13]
1975-76	85212		36.8379000	0.04%		1,034.909	[14]
1976-77	91812		41.1400000	0.04%		1,250.173	Revised Estimate as Actuals are not available [14]
1977-78	104024		37.3670000	0.04%		1,048.38	[15]
1978-79	112671		51.4518000	0.05%		1,408.028	[16]
1979-80	123562		57.0062000	0.05%		1,468.375	[17]
1980-81	147063		82.1087000	0.06%		1,898.797	[18]
1981-82	172776		109.132100	0.06%		2,231.643	Revised Estimate as Actuals are not available [19][20]
1982-83	193255		94.8898000	0.05%		1,797.751	[21]
1983-84	225074		163.365600	0.07%		2,767.55	[22]
1984-85	252188		181.601000	0.07%		2,837.197	[23]
1985-86	284534		229.102300	0.08%		3,391.279	[24]
1986-87	318366		309.990900	0.1%		4,220.286	[25]
1987-88	361865		347.084600	0.1%		4,343.593	[26]
1988-89	429363		422.367000	0.1%		4,831.886	[27]
1989-90	493278		398.559500	0.08%		4,257.157	[28]
1990-91	576109	105298	386.221800	0.07%	0.37%	3,787.304	[29][30]
1991-92	662260	111414	460.101000	0.07%	0.41%	3,962.043	[31][30]
1992-93	761196	122618	490.920400	0.06%	0.4%	3,778.456	[32][30]
1993-94	875992	141853	695.335000	0.08%	0.49%	5,034.199	[33][30]
1994-95	1027570	160739	759.079300	0.07%	0.47%	4,987.831	[34][30][35]
1995-96	1205583	178275	755.778596	0.06%	0.42%	4,503.218	[36][30][35]
1996-97	1394816	201007	1062.44660	0.08%	0.53%	5,808.958	[37][30][35]
1997-98	1545294	232053	1050.50250	0.07%	0.45%	5,355.404	[38][35]
1998-99	1772297	279340	1401.70260	0.08%	0.5%	6,314.116	[39][35][40]
1999-00	1988262	298053	1677.38580	0.08%	0.56%	7,207.213	[41][35][40]
2000-01	2139886	325592	1905.39970	0.09%	0.59%	7,870.388	[42][35][40][43]
2001-02	2315243	362310	1900.97370	0.08%	0.52%	7,566.941	[44][40][45][43]
2002-03	2492614	413248	2162.22480	0.09%	0.52%	8,251.252	[46][40][45][43]
2003-04	2792530	471203	2268.80470	0.08%	0.48%	8,340.184	[47][40][45][43]
2004-05	3186332	498252	2534.34860	0.08%	0.51%	8,978.048	[48][40][45][43]
2005-06	3632125	505738	2667.60440	0.07%	0.53%	9,064.742	[49][40][45][43]
2006-07	4254629	583387	2988.66550	0.07%	0.51%	9,600	[50][45][51][43]
2007-08	4898662	712671	3278.00440	0.07%	0.46%	9,896.958	[52][45][51][43]
2008-09	5514152	883956	3493.57150	0.06%	0.4%	9,737.543	[53][45][51][43]
2009-10	6366407	1024487	4162.95990	0.07%	0.41%	10,469.328	[54][51][43]
2010-11	7634472	1197328	4482.23150	0.06%	0.37%	10,054.831	[55][51][43]
2011-12	8736329	1304365	3790.78880	0.04%	0.29%	7,810.892	[56][51][43]
2012-13	9944013	1410372	4856.28390	0.05%	0.34%	9,154.92	[57][51][43]
2013-14	11233522	1559447	5168.95140	0.05%	0.33%	8,785.089	[58][51][43]
2014-15	12467960	1663673	5821.36630	0.05%	0.35%	9,301.439	[59][60][43]
2015-16	13771874	1790783	6920.00520	0.05%	0.39%	10,442.867	[61][62][43]
2016-17	15391669	1975194	8039.99680	0.05%	0.41%	11,558.692	[63][64][43]
2017-18	17090042	2141975	9130.56640	0.05%	0.43%	12,807.642	[65][66][43]
2018-19	18899668	2315113	11192.6566	0.06%	0.48%	14,973.994	[67][68][43]
2019-20	20103593	2686330	13033.2917	0.06%	0.49%	16,196.004	[69][70][71][43]
2020-21	19854096	3509836	9490.05390	0.05%	0.27%	11,169.744	[69][72][73][43]
2021-22	23597399	3793801	12473.84	0.05%	0.33%	13,997.153	[74][69][75][76]
2022-23	26949646	4193157	10158.4694	0.04%	0.24%	10,764.009	[69][77][78]
2023-24	29535667	4443447	10704.07	0.04%	0.24%	10,704.07	[79][80][81]

See also

• Budget of NASA