UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — ISRO and the next big challenge

Q1. In the context of ISRO's 2025 launches, NISAR is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. A joint NASA-ISRO earth-observation satellite carrying a dual-band (L- and S-band) synthetic aperture radar
  • B. India's first dedicated solar observatory placed in a halo orbit around the L1 Lagrange point
  • C. An uncrewed Gaganyaan crew-module test vehicle for validating re-entry and parachute deceleration
  • D. A commercial communications satellite launched for the U.S. firm AST SpaceMobile

Q2. The December 2025 LVM3-M6 launch of the BlueBird Block-2 satellite for AST SpaceMobile was undertaken under a commercial contract signed by which one of the following bodies?

  • A. NewSpace India Limited (NSIL)
  • B. Antrix Corporation Limited
  • C. Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe)
  • D. ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC)

Q3. As per the revised scope approved for the Gaganyaan programme (reflected in the Department of Space Year-End Review 2025), how many missions in total are now planned under the programme?

  • A. 8
  • B. 3
  • C. 5
  • D. 4

Q4. Which one of the following was the heaviest payload ever launched into Low Earth Orbit by India's LVM3, set during the December 2025 LVM3-M6 mission?

  • A. BlueBird Block-2 (BlueBird 6) communications satellite for AST SpaceMobile
  • B. NISAR earth-observation satellite
  • C. GSAT-N2 communications satellite
  • D. Chandrayaan-3 integrated module