India has set out a plan to make all of its space missions free of space debris by 2030, under a vision described as Swachh Space. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, announced the vision on 5 November 2026 while opening Base 1, a new space robotics facility built by Hyderabad-based Cosmoserve Space. The plan covers government and private missions alike, and it aims to stop Indian missions from adding to the junk already circling the Earth.
The vision sits inside the Debris Free Space Mission (DFSM), which the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced in April 2024. The target is not to remove every dead satellite already in orbit. It is to make sure Indian missions stop creating new space debris, through design rules, fuel reserves for disposal and controlled re-entry at the end of a mission.
India had 129 trackable space debris objects in orbit as of March 2026, according to a government reply in Parliament. The count includes 23 defunct satellites in low Earth orbit and 26 inactive satellites in geostationary orbit, along with spent rocket bodies. The PSLV C3 rocket body alone accounts for 33 pieces.
The figure of 129 objects came in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 18 March 2026. A separate reply in the Rajya Sabha said ISRO picks operating orbits away from crowded zones and carries out evasive manoeuvres when a collision risk appears. The reply also said studies are under way on rendezvous and proximity operations and robotic arms, the skills a debris removal spacecraft would need.
The scale of the space debris problem is far larger than India’s share. Space surveillance networks track about 47,280 objects in orbit, according to the European Space Agency’s Space Environment Statistics page, last updated on 2 November 2026. Even small fragments of space debris travel fast enough to damage a working satellite, which is why operators now plan disposal from the start.
How India plans to stop new space debris
ISRO has made fuel margins for post-mission disposal a standard part of mission design, so a spacecraft or launch vehicle has enough propellant left to move itself out of a working orbit when its job is done. The mission also sets a disposal success probability of more than 99 percent, through controlled re-entry or a move to a lower orbit with less than five years of orbital life left.
Work already done under the programme includes the end-of-life deorbiting and passivation of the SCATSAT satellite, which cut its remaining orbital life, and the disposal of IRNSS-1D to a super-synchronous graveyard orbit. Passivation drains leftover fuel and power so a dead satellite cannot break apart later.
ISRO is also studying rendezvous and proximity operations and robotic arms as steps towards active removal of space debris. Its SpaDeX mission in 2025 showed autonomous docking, a skill needed for any spacecraft that has to approach and grab another object in orbit.
Space debris tracking and the new Base 1 facility
Tracking is the other half of the work. Under the NETRA project, India is building its own facilities to watch space objects and judge collision risks for Indian satellites. The Department of Space told Parliament that ISRO picks operating orbits away from crowded zones and carries out collision avoidance manoeuvres when a risk is found. Continual assessment of collision risks and avoidance manoeuvres are now part of routine operations for Indian satellites.
Cosmoserve’s Base 1, at VSD Tech Park in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, brings space robotics development and testing under one roof. The facility is intended to bring several stages of space robotics development and testing together, from design to ground trials. The company plans a dual spacecraft design with an orbital service station that can support several satellites. Its Mission EMBRACE test flew aboard Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-I launch vehicle in July 2026.
India works with other countries on the problem through the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee and the United Nations working group on the long-term sustainability of space. Singh said India’s work on active debris removal shows its growing role in space technology and its aim of safer orbits for all users.