History of India’s space programme
The history of India's space program dates back to the early 1960s.
The Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was formed to coordinate the country's space activities.
In 1969, INCOSPAR was replaced by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),
ISRO has been responsible for India's remarkable achievements in space exploration.
On November 21, 1963, a 715-kg Nike Apache rocket soared from a small launch pad on the beachhead at Thumba, a fishing village on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram.
It rose 208 km into the sky and released a sodium vapour payload, which bedecked the twilight sky with an orange nebula.
Sixty years ago, the launch set India on a journey that saw two more milestones before the country became part of an elite international group.
The first was the launch of India’s first truly indigenous rocket, RH 75 on February 22, 1969.
The second came on July 18, 1980, when its home-grown Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) rocket, weighing 17 tonnes, placed the 35-kg Rohini satellite in orbit.
Now India in a small group of countries that could launch their satellites into orbit using their own launch vehicles.
The only others were the Soviet Union, the U.S., the U.K., and France.
The rocket was mated with the payload in St. Mary Magdalene Church, Thumba, which had been taken over by the government.
Vikram Sarabhai was present during the launch, along with E.V. Chitnis, P.D. Bhavsar, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and the French payload specialist Jacques Blamont.
The SLV-3s led to the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicles (ASLVs), the Polar Satellite Vehicles (PSLVs), and the Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicles (GSLVs).
India also has a variety of sounding rockets to study the upper atmosphere.
Major events and achievements
1975: India launches its first satellite, Aryabhata, into orbit.
1980: India becomes the 17th country in the world to launch its own satellite into orbit, using its own rocket, the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III).
1988: India launches its first satellite for telecommunications, INSAT-1A.
1997: India launches its first satellite for remote sensing, IRS-1A.
2003: India surpasses the United States and Russia to become the world's leading launcher of commercial satellites.
2008: India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe successfully orbits the Moon.
2014: India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) successfully enters orbit around Mars, making India the first Asian country to reach Mars.
2016: India successfully launches the AstroSat, a dedicated astronomy satellite.
2017: India successfully launches the GSAT-9 satellite, which provides high-speed internet connectivity to rural India.
2018: India successfully launches the Cartosat-2S satellite, which provides high-resolution satellite imagery for a variety of applications.
2022: India successfully launches the PSLV-C53 rocket, carrying three satellites: the EOS-06, the AstroSat-2, and the CMS-01.
Looking to the future, India's space program has ambitious plans,
Sending a human astronaut to space by 2024.
Launching a mission to Venus.
Establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon.
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