Chennai: IIT Madras and ISRO have successfully developed and booted an aerospace-grade semiconductor chip based on the SHAKTI processor. This development marks a step forward in India’s efforts to build indigenous semiconductor technology for critical space applications.
Indigenous Aerospace Chip Development
The newly developed chip, named IRIS, was designed by IIT Madras in collaboration with ISRO’s Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) in Thiruvananthapuram. It was fabricated at the Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) in Chandigarh and packaged by Tata Advanced Systems in Karnataka. The project demonstrates India’s growing semiconductor capabilities, from design to manufacturing.
SHAKTI is an open-source processor based on the RISC-V Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). Led by Prof. V. Kamakoti at IIT Madras, the initiative is backed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under the ‘Digital India RISC-V’ (DIRV) program, which promotes the development of indigenous microprocessors with security features.
Designed for ISRO’s Future Missions
The IRIS chip is built to support computing functions in ISRO’s command and control systems. It features fault-tolerant internal memories and advanced serial bus interfaces, ensuring reliability in space applications. The chip has undergone extensive hardware and software validation and is now ready for deployment in future ISRO missions.
Expanding India’s Semiconductor Capabilities
This development is part of India’s broader push for semiconductor self-reliance. The project involved multiple stakeholders:
Concept & Design: IIT Madras, ISRO-IISU
Fabrication: Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL), Chandigarh
Packaging: Tata Advanced Systems, Karnataka
PCB Production: PCB Power, Gujarat
Assembly & Integration: Syrma SGS, Chennai
Software & Booting: IIT Madras
Strategic Impact
With advancements like IRIS, India is strengthening its position in semiconductor technology, reducing dependence on foreign chipsets. The success of the project is expected to pave the way for future indigenous processors in both strategic and commercial applications.
