ISRO: A CROWN JEWEL OF INDIA

Independent India, with space research being spearheaded already by two scientists: Vikram Sarabhai—founder of the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad—and Homi Bhabha, who established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1945, was all set to foray space. Thumba takes pride in being the provenience of the apostle of Indian Space Programme because of its proximity to the geomagnetic equator. The voyage, with upcoming legions of excursion in near future, started with the establishment of INCOSPAR (1962) - Indian National Committee for Space Research (Department of Atomic Energy) under Dr. Vikram Sarabhai to formulate the Indian Space Programm. INCOSPAR took the decision to set up  Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) at Thumba - a suburb of Thiruvananthapuram city, the capital of Kerala. On November 21, 1963, a sounding rocket, 'Nike-Apache', was launched from TERLS marking the beginning of Space exploration in India. Emboldened by the success, Space Science and Technology Centre (SSTC) was ensconced on Veli hills in 1965 to initiate research on the development of systems and components for launch vehicles. Harnessing the benefits of space science for the common people was the kernel of the Indian space program and hence ISRO was formed to supplant INCOSPAR. Further, Space Commission was set up and onuses of Space S&T were bequeathed to Department of Space, set up in 1972.



Viaggio di ISRO -
With the embarkment of Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) -an experimental satellite communications project- in 1975-76 and the launch of Aryabhata(1975) & Bhaskara-I(1979) satellite- for astrophysics and earth observation experiment respectively, ISRO eventually commenced its inexorable march into space. Earlier, ISRO used to rely on European and Russian Launch Vehicle. Dependency on the foreign vehicle & the colossal cost of operation led to an exigency of an indigenous launch vehicle. This led to the development of India's own Satellite Launch Vehicle in 1979 i.e. SLV-3, adroit at carrying weight up to 50 kg. The launch of SLV-3 had evinced the way forward for the advanced launch vehicle. With initial failure in 1979, SLV-3 successfully launched an experimental satellite Rohini Rs1 on 18th July 1980. Then came ASLV - Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle in 1987 which was endowed with carrying a mass up to 150 kg. and was a low-cost vehicle for Low Earth Orbit. It got first success in 1992 with the launch of SROSS-C (Stretched Rohini Satellite Series) - for conducting astrophysics & Earth Remote Sensing.



Concurrently, ISRO successfully launched its first communication satellite -APPLE-Ariane Passenger PayLoad Experiment in 1981 using European Launch Vehicle Ariane-1 from Kourou in French Guiana. APPLE was said to mark the 'Dawn of India's satellite communication era'. It was put to use in several communication experiments including relay of TV programs & radio networking. In April 1984, Rakesh Sharma became first Indian to go into space during the Joint Indo-Soviet Manned Space Flight. That day, millions of enthralled Indians looked towards the sky with pride. The first Remote Sensing Satellite IRS-1A was successfully launched in 1988 using Russian Vehicle Vostok-2m from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

A noteworthy aggrandizement came with the launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in 1993 and Geo Stationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in 2001. While former is used to launch LEO satellite into Polar and Sun-Synchronous Orbits and can carry a payload up to 1750 kg, later one is used to launch heavier INSAT class of Geo-Synchronous Satellite with 2500kg capacity. PSLV is emerged as a reliable and versatile workhorse vehicle with 30 consecutive successful mission by June 2017. It has also launched two spacecraft - Chandryan 1 in 2008 and Mass Orbital Mission in 2013. It has also carried out 209 abroad missions. Future of GSLV is GSLV Mk-III which could carry a payload up to 4000kg and use high thrust cryogenic engine.

ISRO shot off 104  satellites (3 are Indian and 101 are foreign and smaller satellites) into space in a single mission in Feb, 2017, which is a world record, beating Russia which in 2014 catapulted 37 satellites in a single launch. ISRO is also mulling the idea of missions to Jupiter and Venus. The second mission to Mars is tentatively slated for in 2021-2022 time frame and as per existing plans, it may well involve putting a robot on the surface of the Red Planet. On May 5,2017 India launched the first South Asia Satellite, built by the ISRO and funded entirely by India, that at once boosted its “neighbourhood first policy” as well as helped it carve a unique place for itself in space diplomacy by “gifting” a satellite to its neighbors with the benefits include mapping natural resources, telemedicine, IT connectivity etc.

India has largest domestic communication satellite systems in Asia-Pacific region which provide amenities like telecommunication, TV Broadcasting, Weather Forecast, Disaster Warning, Search and Rescue Operation. This system entails INSAT and GSAT series of satellite,  EDUSAT, HAMSAT etc.

India has also the largest in the world civilian Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation which provides succor in the administration of land and water resources, cartography, ocean, and atmosphere. Major Earth Observation Satellite are RESOURCESAT, CARTOSAT, OCEANSAT, SCATSAT.

For scientific indagation in the field of Astrophysics, Space Science, Planetary and Earth Science, Theoretical physics etc, India has the Scientific Aircrafts e.g. ASTROSAT, Mass Orbital Mission, Chandrayan.

ISRO has stoutly developed Indian Navigation System for civil users and military purposes. IRNSS or NacIV and GAGAN are the two systems which cater to Navigation and Positioning services. GAGAN is touted as Desi-GPS.

India also operates Experimental Satellite for remote sensing, atmospheric studies, payload development, recovery technology, orbital control etc e.g. Rohini, Aryabhata, YOUTHSAT, APPLE, INS series.

ISRO is also invigorating student's satellites by its ISRO'S student satellite program to stimulate the development of NaNo Satellite.

Without much of external help, India has achieved self-reliance by mastering the technologies for building powerful rockets, satellites for earth observation, scientific experiments, and communication. The uniqueness of the Indian Space Programme is that it is able to use the space based platforms for implementing various application programs which touches the day-to-day life of common man. With its far-flung socioeconomic advantages, ISRO has become an affable companion.

It is the tale of an Indian organization that defied international bans and embargos, worked with laughably meager resources, evolved its own technology and grew into a major space power.

It was not a sorcery that ISRO achieve tremendous success. It was a sagacious movement.