India in Space : A Bag Full of
Success
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.
