Current affairs, 23 August 2026: India marks the 3rd National Space Day and targets its own space station by 2035, and Rajnath Singh opens a ₹3,500-crore defence expansion

23 August 2026 is a science and technology day — India marks the third National Space Day and sets a 2035 space-station goal — with a defence manufacturing push in West Bengal. One for the SSC, railways, state-PSC and defence notebooks. Names, dates and numbers below.

India marks its third National Space Day

India observed its third National Space Day on 23 August 2026. The day commemorates the Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander’s soft landing at Shiv Shakti Point on the Moon’s south pole on 23 August 2023 — the feat that made India the first country to land near the lunar south pole and the fourth to achieve a soft Moon landing. The national event was hosted by the Space Applications Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad, and this year’s theme is “Towards Viksit Bharat: Innovating, Collaborating and Aspiring to Global Space Leadership.” PM Narendra Modi and other leaders greeted the nation; ISRO Chairman Dr V. Narayanan led the celebrations. The Economic Times · The Times of India

For revision: National Space Day was declared in 2023 and is observed on 23 August; the Chandrayaan-3 mission carried the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover; ISRO’s headquarters are in Bengaluru.

ISRO targets its own space station by 2035

At the Ahmedabad event, Dr V. Narayanan said India is working towards its own space station — the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS) — by 2035, with the first module already approved, and noted that space-based applications now serve citizens across more than 50 areas. The plan sits alongside ISRO’s coming pipeline of Gaganyaan (human spaceflight) and Chandrayaan-4. The Economic Times

Why it matters for an exam: the reliable one-mark facts are the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS), target 2035; Gaganyaan as India’s first human spaceflight programme; and Chandrayaan-4 as the planned lunar sample-return mission.

Rajnath Singh opens a ₹3,500-crore defence expansion

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on 23 August launched five expansion projects worth ₹3,500 crore at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) — across Kolkata, Howrah and South 24 Parganas — and at Yantra India Limited’s Metal and Steel Factory in Ishapore, to scale warship construction and indigenous weapons and ordnance manufacturing. The push reinforces the shift towards domestically built defence platforms. Defence Standard

For revision: GRSE is a Kolkata-based defence public-sector shipyard that builds warships for the Indian Navy; the drive is part of the wider Atmanirbhar Bharat effort to cut defence imports.

What to write in your notebook

Three lines:

1. National Space Day (3rd): 23 August; commemorates the Chandrayaan-3 landing at Shiv Shakti Point (23 Aug 2023); 2026 theme “Towards Viksit Bharat…”; national event at SAC, Ahmedabad; ISRO chief Dr V. Narayanan.
2. Space station by 2035: Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS), first module approved; pipeline includes Gaganyaan and Chandrayaan-4.
3. Defence expansion: Rajnath Singh opens ₹3,500-crore projects at GRSE (Kolkata/Howrah/South 24 Parganas) and Yantra India (Ishapore) for warships and indigenous ordnance.