Evolution of Indian Space Programme

The Indian space programme had a humble beginning during the early 1960s when the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, set up the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR), in 1962 under the leadership of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and K R Ramanathan.

• INCOSPAR set up the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in Thiruvananthapuram for upper atmospheric research.
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), currently one of the six largest space agencies in the world, was formed in 1969 and it superseded INCOSPAR.
• Since then, ISRO has been working on its mission to provide space based services to the country and to develop technologies to independently achieve the same.
• The Department of Space (DOS) and the Space Commission were set up in 1972 and ISRO was brought under DOS on June 1, 1972.
• Since its inception, the Indian space programme has been well orchestrated and had three distinct elements such as, satellites for communication and remote sensing, the space transportation system and application programmes.