April 20, 2026
The second edition of the International Conference on “Spacecraft Mission Operations: SMOPS-2026,” themed “Innovative Operations for Smart and Sustainable Space Mission Management - Next Generation,” was held from 8-10 April, 2026 in Bangalore, India. The conference, jointly organised by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Astronautical Society of India (ASI) and the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), aimed to cover a wide range of topics related to mission operations management, advanced mission design, automation, large constellations management, human spaceflight mission, space robotics, space policy, lunar and interplanetary exploration, cybersecurity in space systems, artificial intelligence (AI), present and future trends in ground station operations and so on, while addressing the futuristic techniques in both upstream and downstream segments. An exclusive workshop for students and young professionals was conducted on 10th April, as part of SMOPS-2026.
The conference was inaugurated on 8th April 2026 by Shri A. S. Kiran Kumar, former Chairman ISRO / Secretary, Department of Space (DOS), in the presence of Dr. V. Narayanan, Chairman, ISRO / Secretary, DOS; Shri M. Sankaran, Director, U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC); Dr. Jean Michel Contant, Secretary General, IAA; and Dr. A. K. Anil Kumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC).
The key themes featured in this conference, one-of-its-kind in India, included
Apart from 120 oral and 88 poster presentations, leading domain experts from European Space Agency (ESA); Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES); German Aerospace Center Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR); Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP), Russia; Institut Kosmicheskih Issledovanyi (IKI), Russia; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA); CelesTrak; European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT); European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Eutelsat); Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Netherlands and institutions from Canada, participated as keynote speakers and panellists.
The conference served as a unique networking platform, bringing together space agencies, start-ups, industry and academia to share perspectives on state-of-the-art technologies and to address emerging challenges in a rapidly evolving space landscape.
The final day of the conference featured a workshop with invited talks on topics such as robotic mission operations on the International Space Station (ISS), Space Domain awareness, Space Applications, Human Space missionsand astronaut training that witnessed overwhelming participation.
During the inaugural address, Chairman ISRO emphasised the critical role of meticulous planning and flawless execution of spacecraft mission operations in ensuring the success of space missions. He reiterated the need for the Indian space sector to proactively engage with global counterparts in finding innovative solutions to the evolving challenges in the space sector.
One of the central themes was navigating the ongoing and upcoming challenges, from both technological and policy aspects, of increasing complexity of diversified, distributed mission operational concepts, arising out of disruptive technological innovation, advent of large constellations, exacerbating space traffic congestion, and more ambitious human space explorations beyond the realm of Earth.The pivotal role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), in enabling more autonomous and efficient mission operations with human-machine synergy were underscored across the sessions.
ISTRAC, the hub of spacecraft operations for all Low Earth Orbit and Deep Space missions, from Aryabhata satellite to NISAR, has several landmark achievements to its credit, including the historic Mangalyaan mission, thesoft landing of Chandrayaan-3, insertion of Aditya-L1 spacecraft in Lagrangian Point around Sun and docking experiments in SpaDEx mission, took a leading role in organising SMOPS-2026. In the backdrop of opening up of Indian space sector and ISRO embarking on Human Space mission, SMOPS-2026 served as a rich confluence of ideas across multiple disciplines, fostering collaboration, cooperation, and partnerships amongst the global space community to chart a safe, sustainable and smart roadmap for future space mission operations.