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Subject: General Science

Topic: India’s Space Programme

Introduction

• The setting up of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station in 1963 marked the beginning of the Indian space program.

• The Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS) were established by the Government of India in 1972 to promote unified development and application of space science and technology for national objectives.

• The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was set up as the research and development wing of DOS and is responsible for the execution of India’s national space program.

• In the early years, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, a scientist and a visionary who laid the foundations of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO),

• Accordingly, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully operationalised two major satellite systems namely Indian National Satellites (INSAT) for communication services and Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) is used satellites for management of natural resources Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is used for launching IRS type of satellites and Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) for launching INSAT type of satellites.

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. DOS implements these programmes through, mainly Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), National Atmospheric Research. Laboratory (NARL), North Eastern-Space Applications Centre (NE-SAC) and Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL). The Antrix Corporation,commercial wing of (ISRO) was established in 1992 as a government owned company, markets the space products and services.

Current Program Indian National Satellite (INSAT) System

The INSAT series, commissioned in 1983, has today become one of the largest domestic satellites systems in the Asia, pacific region comprising Eleven satellites in service 

1. INSAT-2E Launched on Apr 03,1999
2. INSAT-3B Launched on Mar 22,2000
3. INSAT-3C Launched on Jan 24,2002
4. INSAT-3A Launched on Apr 10,2003
5. INSAT-3E Launched on Sep 28,2003
6. INSAT-4A Launched on Dec 22,2005
7. INSAT-4B Launched on Mar 12,2007
8. INSAT-4CR Launched on Sep 02,2007
9. KALPANA-1 Launched on Sep 12,2002
10. GSAT-2 Launched on May 08,2003
11. EDUSAT Launched on Sept 20,2004

Indian Remote Sensing Satellites System (IRS)

The Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite system is one of the largest constellations of remote sensing satellites in operation in the world today. The IRS programme commissioned with launch of IRS-1A in 1988 and presently includes Nine satellites that continue to provide imageries in variety of spatial resolutions from better than a metre ranging upto 500 metres.

1. RESOURCESAT-1 Launched on Oct 17, 2003 by PSLV-C5
2. CARTOSAT-1 Launched on May 05, 2005 by PSLV-C6
3. CARTOSAT - 2 Launched on Jan 10, 2007 by PSLV-C7
4. CARTOSAT-2A Launched on Apr 28, 2008 by PSLV-C9
5. IMS-1 Launched on Apr 28, 2008 by PSLV-C9
6. RISAT-2 Launched on Apr 20, 2009 by PSLV-C12
7. OCEANSAT-2 Launched on Sept 23, 2009 by PSLV-C14
8. CARTOSAT-2B Launched on July 12, 2010 by PSLV-C15