History and Important Milestones of India’s space program

Though ancient Indians were known to have knowledge about rocket science- it being used in during wars- it was only after independence that the process of exploring space really accelerated. It was Dr. Vikram Sarabhai who founded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad on November 11, 1947. This was the first step that India took towards becoming a space power.

Our first biggest success was on April 19, 1975, when India launched its first satellite into space. It was launched by the Soviet Union from Kapustin Yar using a Cosmos-3M launch vehicle. The ‘Aryabhata’ was named after a 5th century Indian mathematician, who founded concepts of the numerical value zero and many astronomical calculations in around 500 AD.

After that India has sent a number of satellites into space, notably the Apple (1981), Bhaskara –I (1979) and Bhaskara –II (1981), INSAT-1 series (1A, -1B, -1C and -1D), INSAT-2 series (2A, -2B, -2C and -2D), IRS-Series (1A, -IB, -1E, -P2, -1C, -P3, -1D), Rohini (1A, 1B, 2 and 3) and Sross.

Also, India has developed various Launch vehicles that make a space program independent and are the most important technological measure of its advancement. Prominent among them are Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV), Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

India in Space: A Timeline

1961: The government put “Space Research” under the jurisdiction of the Department of Atomic Energy

1962: Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) established with Dr. Sarabhai as Chairman; Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) also formed

Nov 1963: TERLS launched the first sounding rocket

1969: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) formed

1972-76: ISRO conducts air-borne remote sensing experiments

April 19, 1975: Aryabhata- the first Indian satellite launched

1979:

• Bhaskara-I fired into space on June 7

• On August 10, ISRO launched SLV-3 with Rohini Technology Payload on board. However, the satellite could not be placed in orbit.

• The Second Experimental launch of SLV-3; Rohini satellite successfully placed in orbit on July 18.

1981:

• An experimental geo-stationary communication satellite - APPLE successfully launched on June 19.

• Bhaskara-II launched on November 20, 1981.

(The Bhaskara satellites are named after a 17th Century Indian astronomer and was meant to study ocean and land surface data at a cost Rs. 65 million)

From 1982 to 2003, India sent a series of INSAT or the Indian National Satellite System into space proving its mastery in space science. INSAT is a series of multipurpose Geo-Stationary satellites for telecommunications, broadcasting and meteorology needs.

April 10, 1982: INSAT-1A launched

1983: INSAT-1B, launched on August 30

1984: Indo-Soviet manned space mission on April 1984

July 21, 1988: INSAT-1C

June 12, 1990: INSAT-1D

July 10, 1992: INSAT-2A launched

July 23, 1993: INSAT-2B

December 7, 1995: INSAT-2C

June 4, 1997: INSAT-2D

April 3, 1999: INSAT-2E launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana

May 26, 1999: Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT), launched by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C2) along with Korean KITSAT-3 and German DLR-TUBSAT from Sriharikota

March 22, 2000: INSAT-3B launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana,

October 22, 2001: PSLV-C3 successfully launched three satellites -- Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) of ISRO, BIRD of Germany and PROBA of Belgium.

January 24, 2002: Successful launch of INSAT-3C by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana

September 12, 2002: PSLV-C4 successfully launched KALPANA-1 satellite from Sriharikota

2003:

• INSAT-3A launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (April 10, 2003). • Successful launch of INSAT-3E on September 28, 2003. • ISRO`s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C5, successfully launched RESOURCESAT-1 (IRS-P6) satellite from Sriharikota(October 17, 2003).

2004: Maiden operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F01) launched EDUSAT from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota (September 20, 2004)

2005: • PSLV-C6 carries CARTOSAT-1 and HAMSAT satellites from Sriharikota on May 5, 2005 into orbit.

• Launch of INSAT-4A by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (December 22, 2005).

2007:

• ISRO launches India’s CARTOSAT-2 and Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) and Indonesia’s LAPAN-TUBSAT and Argentina’s PEHUENSAT-1 at one go on January 10, 2007.

• Successful recovery of SRE-1 from Bay of Bengal after it reenter the earth’s atmosphere on January 22, 2007 – a crucial operation that will help India in mastering the know how of reentering earth atmosphere from space.

• Successful launch of INSAT-4B by Ariane-5 from Kourou French Guyana, (March 12, 2007).

• PSLV-C8 successfully launched Italian astronomical satellite AGILE from Sriharikota on April 23.

• Successful launch of GSLV with INSAT-4CR on board from SDSC SHAR on September 2.

2008:

• PSLV-C10 successfully launches TECSAR satellite under a commercial contract with Antrix Corporation on January 21, 2008.

• PSLV-C9 successfully launches CARTOSAT-2A, IMS-1 and 8 foreign satellites from Sriharikota on April 28.

• Chandrayaan-1 launched by a modified version of the PSLV XL on 22 October 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 06:23 IST

• In a historic event, the Indian space programme achieved a unique feat on November 14, 2008 with the placing of Indian Tricolour on the Moon’s surface on Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday. The Indian Tricolour was painted on the sides of Moon Impact Probe (MIP), one of the 11 payloads of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, that successfully hit the lunar surface at 20:31 hrs (8:31 pm) IST. This is the first Indian built object to reach the surface of the moon. The point of MIP’s impact was near the Moon’s South Polar Region. It may be recalled that the modern Indian space programme was initiated in 1962 when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister of India.

• A state of the art communication satellite, W2M, built by Antrix(Antrix Corporation Limited is commercial wing of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The name "Antrix" is an anglicized version of Antariksh, from the Sanskrit word for "space" or "sky".)/ISRO on a commercial basis in partnership with EADS-Astrium of Europe, was successfully launched on December 21, 2008 at 0405 hrs (4:05 am) Indian Standard Time (IST) by the European Ariane-5 launch vehicle. The launch took place from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou in French Guiana.

2009

• In its fifteenth mission carried out from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota on April 20, 2009, ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C12) successfully placed two satellites - RISAT-2 and ANUSAT - in the desired orbit.

• India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C14, in its 16th Mission launched 958 kg Oceansat-2 and six nano-satellites into a 720 km. intended Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit (SSPO) on September 23, 2009.

• On Sep 24, 2009 Chandrayaan-1 detects presence of water on the Moon.