Indian Space Program

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the founding father of Indian space programme recognized the benefits of space technologies for India after witnessing the power of American communication satellite ‘Syncom-3’in conducting live transmission of Tokyo Olympic Games across the Pacific.

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Research Organisation (ISRO), currently one of the six largest space agencies in the world, was formed in 1969 and it superseded INCOSPAR.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.

India in Space: Major Landmarks

• INSAT System: The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system has grown as one of the largest domestic communications satellite constellations in the Asian region. Established in 1983 with the commissioning of INSAT-1B, it initiated a major revolution in India’s communications sector and sustained the same later. The system has been periodically augmented with the launch of INSAT/GSAT communication satellites. INSAT system has been instrumental in bringing the benefits of space technology to the doorsteps of common man through its services to telecommunications, television broadcasting, satellite news gathering, societal applications, weather forecasting, disaster warning and search and rescue operations, tele-medicine and Village Resource Centres in the country.
• PSLV- India’s Workhorse Launch Vehicle: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), has provided the country the crucial autonomy in ‘access to space’. The versatile third generation launch vehicle equipped with liquid stageshas been successfully used for launching lighter communication and navigation satellites into GTO, apart from launching remote sensing satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Interplanetary missions. PSLV successfully launched two spacecraft- Chandrayaan-1 (India’s first lunar exploration mission) in 2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft (India’s first interplanetary mission) in 2013- that later travelled to Moon and Mars respectively.
• GSLV: Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is an expendable launch system operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). GSLV MkIII (Largest launch vehicle of ISRO), chosen to launch Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO. The vehicle has two solid strap-ons, a core liquid booster and a cryogenic upper stage.
• GSLV Mk III is designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is about twice the capability of the GSLV Mk II.
• India’s Mission to Moon: India’s maiden moon exploration mission ‘Chandrayaan-1’ was launched in October 2008 for mapping the lunar surface with high resolution remote sensing and study the chemical and mineralogical composition of the entire lunar surface. India launched its second Lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, in July, 2019.
• Space Capsule Recovery: India achieved a significant milestone in 2007 with the success of Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) which established India’s technological capability to recover an orbiting satellite with precise re-entry trajectories.
• Indian Cryogenic Engine and Stage: India successfully flight tested indigenous cryogenic stage onboard Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5) on January 5, 2014. GSLV is capable of placing 4 tonnes class communication satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and India is one among six countries in the world to demonstrate such launch capability to GTO with the use of complex cryogenic technology.
• Remote Sensing and National Natural Resource Management System: The Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) System is one of the largest constellations of remote sensing satellites in operation in the world today. It provides inputs for management of natural resources and various developmental projects across the country using space based imagery.
• Mars Orbiter Mission: The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, is a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014 and recently completed five years in Martian orbit. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was India’s first interplanetary mission and ISRO has also become the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after the Soviet space program, NASA, and the European Space Agency. It is the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so in its first attempt. Mars Orbiter Mission is mainly intended to establish the Indian technological capability to reach Martian orbit and to explore Mars morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments.
• Satellite Navigation: Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) called NavIC, is being developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area. IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which is provided to all the users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorised users. In addition, ISRO and Airports Authority of India (AAI) have implemented the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation-GAGAN project as a Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) for the Indian Airspace. The objective of GAGAN to establish, deploy and certify satellite based augmentation system for safety-of-life civil aviation applications in India has been successfully completed.

Applications of Space Programme in Various Fields

• Telecommunication: India uses its communication satellites network - one of the largest in the world- for applications such as land management, water resources management, natural disaster forecasting, radio networking, weather forecasting, meteorological imaging and computer communication.
• Resource Management: The IRS (Indian Remote Sensing) satellites have found applications in environmental monitoring, analysing soil erosion and the impact of soil conservation measures, forest management, determining land cover for wildlife sanctuaries, delineating groundwater potential zones, flood inundation mapping, drought monitoring, estimating crop acreage and deriving agricultural production estimates, fisheries monitoring, mining and geological applications such as surveying metal and mineral deposits, and urban planning.
• Military: Several satellites provide surveillance and intelligence-related inputs which prove advantageous in combating, navigation,and reconnaissance missions and help ensure national security.
• Academic: Many institutions in the country use satellites for educational purposes. The EDUSAT (India’s first thematic satellite dedicated exclusively for educational services) was launched for proliferating education to the interior parts of hinterland.
• Telemedicine: ISRO’s telemedicine programme, started in 2001, has been connecting medical colleges, rural hospitals and Mobile Units through the Indian satellites to major specialty hospitals in cities and towns.
• The Mobile Telemedicine Units cover diverse areas of ophthalmology, cardiology, radiology, diabetology, mammography, general medicine, women and child healthcare.
• Cartography: The Cartosat series of satellites, with high resolution optical imaging capabilities, help in large scale urban planning, rural resource and infrastructure development, road-network monitoring, coastal land use and land cover among others.