The space activities in the country were initiated with the setting up of Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962. In the same year, the work on Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, (TERLS) near Thiruvananthapuram was also started. The Indian space programme was institutionalized in November 1969 with the formation of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The Government of India constituted the Space Commission and established the Department of Space (DOS) in June 1972 and brought ISRO under DOS in September 1972. Department of Space (DOS) has the primary responsibility of promoting development of space science, technology and applications towards achieving self reliance and assisting in all round development of the nation. Both the DOS and ISRO Headquarters are located at Bangalore. The development activities are carried out at the Centres and Units spread over the country.

First Few Steps Towards Space:

India launched its first experimental satellite, Aryabhatta, in 1975 this was followed by a series of experimental satellites like Bhaskara , Rohini, stretched Rohini satellite series, SROSS. The first Indian experimental satellite, APPLE, was launched. Indian space programme reached the new stage with the launch of the series of INSAT (Indian National Satellite) in1983, we have entered the fourth generation of these satellites. The first generations of INSAT satellites were imported from United States.

Development of Indigenous Technology:

India has indigenously developed the subsequent generation of INSAT satellites. The INSAT satellite system was jointly owned by the departments of Telecommunications, Space, All India Radio, Doordarshan, Indian Meteorology department. The super cyclone of Orissa has highlighted the limitation of Indian space programme. This led to the development of exclusive satellites. The first ever exclusive satellite for weather monitoring called METSAT was launched. This was named Kalpana after the Indian born American astronaut Kalpana Chawla who died in Colombia crash.India had launched an exclusive satellite for education called EDUSAT. This has revolutionized the fields of education and health too. The tele education and tele medicine projects got further boost with the successful launching of this exclusive satellite. India launched the series of remote sensing satellites in 1988. The latest in this series was RESOURCE SAT. Apart from satellites and satellite launch vehicles, India developed an impressive space infrastructure. For instance, the Vikram Sarabai Space Centre-VSSC at trivendrum, National Remote Sensing Agency in Hyderabad, Space Application Centre-SAC, in Ahmedabad., Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station - TERLS at Thumba in Kerala. Physical Research laboratories - PRL in Ahmedabad , and a host of satellite tracking ground stations in India and Abroad. Several universities, research institutions are also actively associated with the development of space programme in India.

Objectives & Specialties of Indian Space Programmes:

The Space Commission formulates the policies and oversees the implementation of the Indian space programme to promote the development and application of space science and technology for the socio-economic benefit of the country. The speciality of Indian space programme is that it is dedicated to the socio economic development of our country. Even before India had its first experimental satellite, India conducted the Satellite Instructional Television Experimen t- SITE in 1975- 6. The American satellite ATS-6 was leased out for this purpose. As a part of this experiment, television programmes were beamed to 2500 villages using satellite. This experiment paved the way for the development of television in India. In 1977-79, India successfully conducted Satellite Telecommuni-cation Experimental Project - STEP. The Franco German satellite, Symphony was taken on lease for this purpose. The INSAT satellites provided benefits ranging from television broadcasting to weather prediction. Telecommunication, tele education, tele medicine projects are carried out with the help of INSAT satellites. The myriad hour multi channel television boom would not have been possible without the INSAT satellite system. The information revolution and telecommuni-cation revolution were also the result of the INSAT satellites. Indian National Satellite (INSAT) programme for telecommunications, TV broadcasting, meteorology, developmental education, etc. Remote Sensing programme for application of satellite imagery for various developmental purposes. Indigenous capability for design and development of spacecraft and associated technologies for communications, resources survey and space sciences. Design and development of launch vehicles with indigenous technology for access to space and orbiting INSAT, IRS spacecraft and space science missions. Research and development in space sciences and
technologies as well as application programme for national development.

Remote Sensing Satelites:

The Remote Sensing satellites provide a range of benefits. They include the Exploration of natural resources, flood zone mapping, drought assessment, desert land identification and reclamation, estimating the forest cover, assessing the extent of smoke generated by thermal power stations, estimating the crop yield and crop acreage, providing location specific development information, monitoring of command areas, etc. India is conducting National Natural Resources Management Systems- NNRMS using remote sensing data provided by these satellites. We are also conducting Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development-IMSD, with the service provided by these satellites. The Vanjuvanka watershed in Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh is also part of IMSD. These satellites are the most advanced and sophisticated satellites making us leaders in the area of remote sensing. For instance, the OCEAN SAT can measure the oxygen quantity in the algae underneath the oceans thereby giving an accurate estimate of marine resources. Biennial forest surveys are conducted using the data provided by remote sensing satellites. Our remote sensing satellites can provide reasonably accurate data about the extent of crops sown helping us to undertake agricultural plans. These remote sensing satellites can estimate the possible crop yield one month before harvest. Monitoring of command areas using these satellites would ensure supply of irrigation water to the tail end farmers. The very small aperture terminals VSATs were set up to support the national information and communication network.

India in Elite League & Marketing Process:

Apart from satellites, India developed capabilities in launch vehicle technology too. Starting with a simple Satellite Launch Vehicle-SLV, India went on to develop the Augmented Satellite Launch vehicleASLV, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-PSLV, the Geo Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle- GSLV . India has also indigenously developed the VIKAS engine used in the PSLV. The PSLV is used for the launching of remote sensing satellites in earth’s polar orbit. The PSLV was also used in the Chandrayan, India’s first ever Lunar Mission. The Geo Synchronous satellite launch vehicle is used in the launching of communication satellites in earth’s Geo Synchronous orbit. India has also indigenously developed the cryogenic engine used in the GSLV. India is not only self sufficient in space programme, but infact attained international recognition. This helped us to enter into highly competitive global space products market. A special agency called ANTRIX Corporation was set up for this purpose within the Department of Space. India’s INSAT- 2 E transponders were leased to INTELSAT, International Telecommunication Satellite. India has also entered into an agreement with the European space agency AERIAN space for the marketing of its Launch Vehicle Technology. We have also reached an agreement with the American Remote Sensing Company SIO SAT for marketing its remote sensing data. India conducted a programme called sharing of experience in space, shares to train the third world space personnel. India is also becoming part of Russia s GLOSNOS project. Indian Space Programme developed many products which are now used in industry. The space programme has several spin off benefits which include production of low  weight  material used in creation of artificial limbs.Against  this impressive background, India has now embarked  upon the ambitious programme of lunar mission.  The  success of Chandrayaan-1 revealed to the world, India’s capability in one of the highly sophisticated areas of science and technology.

Achievements of ISRO so far in Brief:

So far, 51 Indian Satellite Missions, and 27 Launches from Sriharikota have been conducted.Namely they are as follows:-

2011:

• PSLV-C16 successfully launches Three Satellites–RESOURCESAT-2, YOUTHSAT, X-SAT from Sriharikota (April 20, 2011).

2010:

• GSLV-F06 launched from Shriharikota (Dec 25, 2010). GSAT-5Pcould not be placed into orbit as the GSLV-F06 mission was not successful.

• PSLV-C15 successfully launches Five Satellites – CARTOSAT-2B, ALSAT-2A, two nanosatellites-NLS-6.1 & 6.2 and a picosatellite- STUDSAT from Sriharikota (July 12, 2010).

• GSLV-D3 launched from Sriharikota (Apr 15, 2010). GSAT-4satellite could not be placed in orbit as flight testing of the Indigenous Cryogenic Stage in GSLV-D3 Mission was not successful.

 2009:

• PSLV-C14 successfully launches Seven Satellites – OCEANSAT-2, Four CUBESAT Satellites and Two RUBIN-9 from Sriharikota (Sept. 23, 2009).
• PSLV-C12 successfully launches RISAT-2 and ANUSAT from Sriharikota (April 20, 2009).

2008:

• PSLV-C11 successfully launches CHANDRAYAAN-1 from Sriharikota (October 22, 2008).
• PSLV-C9 successfully launches CARTOSAT- 2A, IMS-1 and 8 foreign nano satellites from Sriharikota (April 28,2008).
• PSLV-C10 successfully launches TECSAR satellite under a commercial contract with Antrix Corporation (January 21, 2008).

2007:

• Successful launch of GSLV (GSLV-F04) with INSAT-4CR on board from SDSC SHAR (September 2, 2007).
• ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLVC8, successfully launched Italian astronomical satellite, AGILE from Sriharikota (April 23, 2007).
• Successful launch of INSAT-4B by Ariane-5 from Kourou French Guyana, (March 12, 2007).
• Successful recovery of SRE-1 after manoeuvring it to reenter the earth’s atmosphere and descend over the Bay of Bengal about 140 km east of Sriharikota (January 22, 2007).
• ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLVC7 successfully launches four satellites – India’s CARTOSAT-2 and Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) and Indonesia’s LAPAN-TUBSAT and Argentina’s PEHUENSAT-1 (January 10, 2007).

2006:

• Second operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F02) from SDSC SHAR with INSAT-4C on board. (July 10, 2006). Satellite could not be placed in orbit.

2005:

• Successful launch of INSAT-4A by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (December 22, 2005).
• ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLVC6, successfully launched CARTOSAT-1 and HAMSAT satellites from Sriharikota(May 5, 2005).

2004:

The first operational flight of GSLV (GSLVF01) successfully launched EDUSAT from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota (September 20, 2004)

2003:

• ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLVC5, successfully launched RESOURCESAT- 1(IRS-P6) satellite from Sriharikota (October 17, 2003). Successful launch of INSAT-3E by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (September 28, 2003).

• The Second developmental launch of GSLVD2 with GSAT-2on board from Sriharikota (May 8, 2003).
• Successful launch of INSAT-3A by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (April 10, 2003).

2002:

• ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLVC4, successfully launched KALPANA-1 satellite from Sriharikota(September 12, 2002).
• Successful launch of INSAT-3C by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (January 24, 2002).

2001:

• ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLVC3, successfully launched three satellites — Technology Experiment Satellite (TES)of ISRO, BIRD of Germany and PROBA of Belgium–into their intended orbits (October 22, 2001).

• The first developmental launch of GSLV-D1 with GSAT-1 on board from Sriharikota (April 18, 2001).

2000:

• INSAT-3B, the first satellite in the third generation INSAT-3 series, launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (March 22, 2000).

1999:

• Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT), launched byPolar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C2) along with Korean KITSAT-3 and German DLR- UBSAT from Sriharikota (May 26, 1999). INSAT-2E, the last satellite in the multipurpose INSAT-2 series, launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (April 3, 1999).

1998:

• INSAT system capacity augmented with the readiness of INSAT-2DTacquired from ARABSAT (January 1998).

1997:

• INSAT-2D, fourth satellite in the INSAT series, launched (June 4, 1997). Becomes inoperable on October 4, 1997. (An in-orbit satellite, ARABSAT-1C, since renamed INSAT-2DT, was acquired in November 1997 to partly augment the INSAT system).

• First operational launch of PSLV with IRS-1D on board (September 29, 1997). Satellite placed in orbit.

1996:

• Third developmental launch of PSLV with IRSP3, on board (March 21, 1996). Satellite placed in polar sunsynchronous orbit.

1995:

• Launch of third operational Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-1C(December 28, 1995). INSAT-2C, the third satellite in the INSAT-2 series, launched (December 7, 1995).

1994:

• Second developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-P2, on board (October 15, 1994). Satellite successfully placed in Polar Sunsynchronous Orbit.
• Fourth developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-C2, on board (May 4, 1994). Satellite placed in orbit.

1993:

• First developmental launch of PSLV with IRS- 1E on board (September 20, 1993). Satellite could not be placed in orbit
• INSAT-2B, the second satellite in the INSAT-2 series, launched (July 23, 1993).

1992:

• INSAT-2A, the first satellite of the indigenously-built second-generation INSAT series, launched (July 10, 1992).
• Third developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-Con board (May 20, 1992). Satellite placed in orbit.

1991:

• Second operational Remote Sensing satellite, IRS-1B, launched (August 29, 1991).

1990:

• INSAT-1D launched (June 12, 1990).

1988:

• INSAT-1C launched (July 21,1988). Abandoned in November 1989. Second developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-2 on board (July 13, 1988). Satellite could not be placed in orbit.

• Launch of first operational Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-1A(March 17, 1988).

1987:

• First developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-1 satellite on board (March 24, 1987). Satellite could not be placed in orbit.

1984:

• Indo-Soviet manned space mission (April 1984).

1983:

INSAT-1B, launched (August 30, 1983). Second developmental launch of SLV-3. RSD2 placed in orbit (April 17, 1983).

1982:

• INSAT-1A launched (April 10, 1982). Deactivated on September 6, 1982.

1981:

• Bhaskara-II launched (November 20, 1981). APPLE, an experimental geo-stationary communication satellite successfully launched (June 19, 1981). RS-D1 placed in orbit (May 31, 1981)First developmental launch of SLV- 3.

1980:

• Second Experimental launch of SLV-3, Rohini satellite successfully placed in orbit. (July 18, 1980).

1979:

• First Experimental launch of SLV-3 with Rohini Technology Payloadon board (August 10, 1979). Satellite could not be placed in orbit.
• Bhaskara-I, an experimental satellite for earth observations, launched (June 7, 1979).

1977:

• Satellite Telecommunication Experiments Project (STEP) carried out.

1975–1976:

• Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) conducted.

1975:

ISRO First Indian Satellite, Aryabhata, launched (April 19, 1975).Becomes Government Organisation (April 1, 1975).

1972–1976:

• Air-borne remote sensing experiments.

1972:

• Space Commission and Department of Space set up (June 1, 1972). ISRO brought under DOS.

1969:

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) formed under Department of Atomic Energy (August 15, 1969).

1968:

• TERLS dedicated to the United Nations (February 2, 1968).

1967:

• Satellite Telecommunication Earth Station set up at Ahmedabad.

1965:

• Space Science & Technology Centre (SSTC) established in Thumba.

1963:

• First sounding rocket launched from TERLS (November 21, 1963).

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) started.