Indian Space Research Organization
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is in charge of India's space programme. Objectives of the space programme include development of satellites, launch vehicles, and associated ground systems.
It is headquartered in Bangalore. Its main launch facility is the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, which lies near the 13° N latitude.
Indian space programme driven by vision of Dr Vikram Sarabhai considered as the father of Indian Space Programme. Government of India set up Space Commission and Department of Space (DOS) in June 1972. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under DOS executes Space programme through its establishments located in different places in India. Main objective of space programme includes development of satellites, launch vehicles, Sounding Rockets and associated ground systems. Crossed several major milestones. Experimental phase included Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), Satellite Telcommunication Experiment (STEP), remote sensing application projects, satellites like Aryabhata, Bhaskara, Rohini and APPLE and launch vehicles, SLV-3 and ASLV. Present operational space systems include Indian National Satellite (INSAT) for tele-communication, television broadcasting, meteorology and disaster warning and Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) for resources monitoring and management. Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) used for launching IRS Satellites and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), intended for launching INSAT class of satellites. Space Science activities include SROSS and IRS-P3 satellites, participation in international science campaigns and ground systems like MST Radar. ISRO's co-operative arrangements cover several countries and space agencies. ISRO provides training in space field to personnel from other countries. ISRO's hardware and services available commercially through Antrix Corporation.
The major ISRO establishments are :
Milestones in Indian Space Program
- 1962: Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR); formed by the Department of Atomic Energy, and work on establishing Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) near Trivandrum began.
- 1963: First sounding rocket launched from TERLS (November 21, 1963).
- 1965: Space Science & Technology Centre (SSTC) established in Thumba.
- 1967: Satellite Telecommunication Earth Station set up at Ahmedabad.
- 1972: Space Commission and Department of Space set up.
- 1975: First Indian Satellite, Aryabhatta, launched (April 19, 1975).
- 1976: Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) conducted.
- 1979: Bhaskara-1, an experimental satellite launched. First Experimental launch of SLV-3 with Rohini satellite on board failed.
- 1980: Second Experimental launch of SLV-3 Rohini satellite successfully placed in orbit.
- 1981: APPLE, an experimental geostationary communication satellite successfully launched. -Bhaskara-II launched (November)
- 1982: INSAT-1A launched (April); deactivated in September.
- 1983: Second launch of SLV-3. RS-D2 placed in orbit. INSAT-1B launched.
- 1984: Indo-Soviet manned space mission (April). Rakesh Sharma was the Indian in space.
- 1987: ASLV with SROSS-1 satellite on board launched.
- 1988: First Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-1A launched. INSAT-1C launched (July). Abandoned in November.
- 1990: INSAT-1D launched successfully.
- 1991: Launch of second operational Remote Sensing satellite, IRS-1B (August).
- 1992: Third developmental launch of ASLV with SROCC-C on board (May). Satellite placed in orbit. First indigenously built satellite INSAT-2A launched successfully.
- 1993: INSAT-2B launched in July successfully. First developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-1E on board fails.
- 1994: Fourth developmental launch of ASLV successful (May). Second developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-P2 successfully (October).
- 1995: INSAT-2C launched in December. Third operational Indian Remote Sensing Satellite launched.
- 1996: Third developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-P3 successful (March).
- 1997: INSAT-2D launched in June becomes inoperational in October. Arabsat1C, since renamed INSAT-2DT, acquired in November. First operational launch of PSLV with IRS-1D successful (September).
- 1998: INSAT system capacity augmented with the readiness of INSAt.2DT acquired from Arabsat (January, 1998).
- 1999: INSAT 2E the last satellite in the multi-purpose INSAT-2 series, launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana (April 3, 1999). Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT), launched by Polar Satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C2) along with Korean KITSAT-3 and German DCR-TUBSAT from Sriharikota (May 26, 1999).
- 2000: INSAT 3B was launched on 22 March, 2000.
Satellites
- The Insat (INSAT) series of geosynchronous communication/meteorological satellites
- The IRS series: Indian Remote Sensing Satellites. Remote sensing data from these satellites is available from Space Imaging Inc. As of early 2002, the IRS series is the source of some of the highest resolution data available.
Expendable launch systems
