"On space, we will be able to announce that India is signing the Artemis Accords, which advance a common vision for space exploration for the benefit of all humankind," a senior administration official said hours before the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden in the Oval Office.
After sending missions to the Moon and Mars, ISRO is now readying a spacecraft to orbit Venus to study what lies below the surface of the hottest planet in the solar system and also unravel the mysteries under the sulfuric acid clouds enveloping it.
Here are list of some of the big ticket announcements.
The skies turned ember but the so-called "blood moon", when the Earth's natural satellite turns strikingly red, remained elusive. Enthusiasts anxiously waited until past midnight for clouds to give way to the spectacular event to become visible.
'It is a blessing in disguise that they could find the glitch before the launch.' 'If this was not found, the entire mission would have been lost.'
'In a part of the world where the government tells people what not to eat and what slogans to shout and not shout, it is beneficial to develop a mentality that is science minded and therefore open-minded.' 'That is possibly why the space programme has always had support from all sides of the political divide,' says Aakar Patel.
Indian Space Research Organisation's Mars Mission team has won the prestigious 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the science and engineering category in recognition of achieving the rare feat in its very first attempt.
'We have 200 million families. Parents have the responsibility to make their children righteous -- where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character.' 'Only three people can give a good citizen before s/he turns 17. Father, mother, the spiritual environment and the primary school teacher.' President A P J Kalam on India becoming a developed country by 2020-2022, the heroes he admired; how 90 per cent of India's space programme is intended for the people and the individual's potential to become unique.
China on Friday announced plans to boost space cooperation with Pakistan, including the development of a space centre and launching of more satellites for its all-weather ally.
'Both the DMK and ADMK are equally to blame.' 'When the question is violence against Dalits, they don't take measures to protect Dalits.'
India on Monday successfully launched its second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 onboard its powerful rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 from the spaceport in Sriharikota to explore the unchartered south pole of the celestial body by landing a rover. Following the successful launch, leaders across the political spectrum congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation for its hard work.
Isro will rope in industry to manufacture customised Isro-theme T-shirts, coffee mugs, posters, key chains, games, jigsaw puzzle and so on.
"The odds, were stacked against us. Of the 51 missions, attempted across the world so far, a mere 21 had succeeded. But we have prevailed. With today's spectacular success, ISRO joins an elite group of only 3 other agencies worldwide to have successfully reached red planet," Modi said.
Nervous and anxious for sure but the city-headquartered space agency is cautiously optimistic of "Vikram" module's soft-landing on the Lunar surface planned in the early hours of Saturday.
The spacecraft is the first to take the American astronauts to orbit from American soil in nearly a decade.
Addressing the scientists hours after ISRO announced that it had lost communication with the lander, he also said that the country's determination to land on the moon has become even stronger.
Dr Rao accelerated the development of rocket technology which led to the successful launch of ASLV and PSLV satellites.
The Indian Space Research Organisation has resolved to alight its lander on the lunar surface with Chandrayaan-3 in addition to a maiden solar expedition in 2020.
Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, 50, and Chen Dong, 37, were blasted off into space by Shenzhou-11 (heavenly vessel) spacecraft.
Chari, 43, will serve as the commander while NASA's Tom Marshburn will be pilot and ESA's Matthias Maurer will serve as a mission specialist for the SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the ISS, which is expected to launched next year.
'If Chandrayaan 1 had a launch with GSLV, we need not have an orbiter for Chandrayaan 2.' 'We could have gone straight round the moon and landed on the moon.'
'When the Americans are talking about colonising Mars by 2030, India cannot be lagging behind.'
Top space scientist G Madhavan Nair said it may take ten years for the country to put in place such an operational rocket.
There is a huge spurt in demand to launch smaller satellites, those as light as 1 kg, with a lifespan of two to three years. But there aren't enough rockets to carry these, reports T E Narasimhan
When the universe is your workspace, the sky is the limit, and there's no such thing as a glass ceiling. Divia Thani Daswani meets the women behind Mangalyaan
Thirty-four years after he traveled to space, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih that he looks forward to Gaganyan, India's first manned space mission in 2022.
Here's the full text of President's address with a word cloud.
Technology can certainly gain India membership in the comity of modern nations in the 21st century.
And the first Indian to go into space from 'Indian soil' could well be a woman.
How will the return of a majority government at the Centre, the new India-US friendship and the Mangalyaan triumph change India?
'... for two reasons: the poor quality of education, and the low rate of female participation in the labour force.' 'Unless something is done quickly to remedy these problems, India will just have a large population of low-skill, low-wage, males trying and failing to feed their families adequately.'
