National Space Day 2026: India celebrates Chandrayaan-3 legacy with theme 'Towards Viksit Bharat'

Key facts

• India celebrates National Space Day 2026 on August 23, 2026, marking the third annual celebration of the country's space achievements.
• The day commemorates the soft landing of the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar South Pole at Shiv Shakti Point on August 23, 2023.
• The official theme for National Space Day 2026 is 'Towards Viksit Bharat - Innovating, Collaborating and Aspiring Global Space Leadership'.
• With Chandrayaan-3, India became the fourth nation to achieve a successful lunar soft landing and the first country to land on the South Polar region of the Moon.
• The Government of India declared August 23 as National Space Day to encourage students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) studies.
• The live streaming of the Chandrayaan-3 landing recorded 8,056,350 peak concurrent viewers, making it one of the most-watched live streams in YouTube history.
• The Chandrayaan-3 landing site is named Shiv Shakti Point, while the Chandrayaan-2 landing spot is named Tiranga Point.
• The Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) cost $74 million, less than the $100 million production cost of the Hollywood movie Gravity.
• NewSpace India Limited, ISRO's commercial arm, has launched hundreds of foreign satellites using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
• ISRO is conducting deep space exploration through the Aditya-L1 solar observation program and the joint NASA NISAR project.
• ISRO's upcoming missions include Gaganyaan human spaceflight and Chandrayaan-4.