March 02, 2026
Inaugural session of NSSS-2026 on February 23, 2026, at NESAC, Umiam, Meghalaya. Shri A S Kiran Kumar, former Chairman, ISRO / Secretary, DOS, member Space Commission, has been the chief guest of the event. In the left side, Dr. V Narayanan, Chairman, ISRO / Secretary, DOS is seen addressing in the event online from the ISRO Headquarters, Bengaluru.
The 23rd edition of the National Space Science Symposium (NSSS-2026), the premier biennial scientific flagship programme of the ISRO was conducted during February 23 to 27, 2026, at the North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), Umiam, Meghalaya. The symposium serves as India's one of the foremost national platform for scientific interaction, bringing together researchers, academicians, and professionals in the fields of atmospheric, space, and planetary sciences, as well as astronomy and astrophysics.
On February 23, 2026, the inaugural ceremony of NSSS-2026 was graced by Shri A. S. Kiran Kumar, former Chairman ISRO/ Secretary DoS, member, Space Commission, and Chair of the National Organising Committee (NOC), as the chief guest. Dr. V. Narayanan, Chairman, ISRO / Secretary, DoS attended the inaugural event online. The inauguration featured the formal release of the NSSS-2026 abstract volume with the subsequent inauguration of the space exhibition.
During his inaugural address, Shri A S Kiran Kumar expressed pride in hosting this national milestone at NESAC, emphasizing its role in strengthening center-state cooperation and capacity building for the North-Eastern Region (NER). Chairman ISRO, Dr. V. Narayanan, noted that NSSS-2026 provides a critical bridge for sharing results from flagship missions like Aditya-L1, XPoSat, and the Chandrayaan series, while acting as a catalyst for India’s Space Vision 2047. Shri M Ganesh Pillai, Scientific Secretary, ISRO stated that this symposium is expected to reflect on the capabilities, as well as the gap areas in space science and the enabling technologies, and chalk out plans to bridge them. Prof. Dipankar Banerjee, Vice Chancellor, IIST, Thiruvananthapuram elaborated on the scientific programme of the event and emphasized on the importance of cross-disciplinary interactions. Dr. TirthaPratim Das, Director of the Space Science Programme, ISRO Headquarters, took the audience down memory lane by recalling the genesis of the NSSS, and its evolution, especially the value editions since the 2022 edition of the symposium.
Reflecting on the genesis and evolution of the symposium, it was recalled that the symposium has traveled a remarkable path since its maiden edition in 1978 at Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. Evolving from the Indian Rocket Society symposium, it was initially known as the INCOSPAR symposium and was strategically timed to precede international COSPAR meetings to vet papers for the global stage. Over the decades, its scope broadened to encompassing research "from the surface to the deep space," integrating both ground-based and space-borne studies.
NSSS-2026 introduced several transformative enhancements. An intensive year-long Regional Outreach Programme (ROP) was conducted by NESAC across nine locations in all eight North-Eastern states, reaching out to 867 students. Through the ROP, the oranisers identified and awarded meritorious students (undergraduate and post-graduate levels) and enthusiastic teachers from the North Eastern region, and about 30 meritorious students were selected for participating in the NSSS-2026. The organisers also identified 50 meritorious undergraduate and post-graduate students from the other parts of the country, through different mechanisms, as well as the students who topped in the ISRO START-2024 and START-2025 awareness training programme events. In total, 80 undergraduate and post-graduate students from different parts of the country were sponsored to attend the special students’ session. This edition of the symposium also marked a major move to break academic silos by strategically integrating start-ups and private industry into its technical sessions and exhibitions, fostering a robust national innovation pipeline.
The NSSS-2026 technical program encompassed a multidisciplinary confluence of research exploring the universe from the surface to deep space. Breaking the record of all the previous editions of the symposium, a total of 817papers were presented in NSSS-2026. These papers were distributed across six parallel sessions covering the domains of meteorology & climate change, middle atmosphere and aeronomy, solar and planetary sciences, astronomy & astrophysics, enabling technologies; as well as a dedicated student session, comprising the above-mentioned 80 undergraduate and post-graduate level students from various academic institutions of the country. Each of the parallel sessions organised specialized breakout sessions for domain-specific discussions to bring out the gap areas and novel concepts. To encourage young researchers, the schedule featured a large number of short oral and poster presentations across these domains.
Interaction sessions were arranged between senior scientists of ISRO and the students, including special interaction sessions with Shri A S Kiran Kumar, former Chairman, ISRO / Secretary, DOS,Gaganyatri Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla. There were advanced lectures offered by the senior scientists from ISRO to the students on several facets of space science and technology to channelize their concepts and ideas. Throughout the five days of the event, the students were mentored closely by senior scientists from ISRO/DOS. The ROP also encouraged the students to utilize India’s space science mission data, as a result, several of them have used the data from India’s space science missions to arrive at scientific results, which were presented during the symposium. The symposium also witnessed the footfall of about 300 school students from six local academic institutions who visited the space exhibition. Another set of 50 students from the local schoolsgot opportunity to interact with Gaganyatri Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla.
The five-days event of NSSS-2026 concluded with its valedictory session on February 27, 2026, with a note of new concepts, ideas, and self-assessment, creation of an inspired pool of students, which would contribute to the enrichment of the country’s space exploration programme, and aid in fulfilling India’s SpaceVision2047.