India Review, vol. 10, no. 4, OctoberDecember, 2011, pp.

345350
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN 1473-6489 print; 1557-3036 online
DOI: 10.1080/14736489.2011.624012
Indias Space Program: A Chronology
RAJESWARI PILLAI RAJAGOPALAN
Many a time, India, being a developing country with its own share
of problems, is criticized for having devoted signicant resources to
develop a space program. However, what is often overlooked is that
like many other countries, Indias space program has been developed
effectively to tackle precisely the socio-economic problems that were
being faced by India. Thus, soon after India gained its independence in
1947, Indian scientists and political leaders recognized the need to aug-
ment application of science for developmental and defense purposes,
although the latter is not pronounced in Indias case.
In terms of organization, the Indian Space Research Organization
(ISRO) was formed in 1969. However, prior to that, the government
had set up Space Research within the Department of Atomic Energy
in 1962. Space research received a big boost when the government set
up the Space Commission and the Department of Space in 1972. ISRO
was brought under the Department of Space in the same year.
As far as its research and applications are concerned, Indias foray
into space in the initial years was conned to the area of remote sens-
ing and communication. One of the rst highlights was when India
launched its rst satelliteAryabhatainto space on April 19, 1975.
Aryabhata, built by the ISRO, was launched by the Soviet Union from
Kapustin Yar using a Cosmos-3M launch vehicle. Thereafter, India
has sent a number of satellites into space, including Apple (1981);
Bhaskara-I (1979); Bhaskara-II (1981); INSAT-1 series (1A, 1B, 1C,
and 1D); INSAT-2 series (2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D); IRS series (1A, 1B,
1E, P2, 1C, P3, and 1D); Rohini series (1A, 1B, 2, AND 3); and Sross
(Stretched Rohini Satellite Series).
Among Indias satellite programs, INSAT series and IRS deserve
special mention. The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system,
Dr. Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan is a Senior Fellow in Security Studies at the
Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.
346 India Review
launched in the early 1980s, is one of the largest domestic commu-
nication satellite systems operating in the Asia Pacic region. The
INSAT series brought about revolutionary changes in Indias com-
munication sector. The series, consisting of multipurpose satellites,
offer services in the area of television broadcasting, weather forecast-
ing, disaster warning, and search and rescue missions. The INSAT
series in service today are: INSAT-2F, INSAT-3A, INSAT-3B, INSAT-
3C, INSAT-3E, KALPANA-1, GSAT-2, EDUSAT, and the recently
launched INSAT-4A.
On the other hand, India has the largest constellation of Remote
Sensing Satellites, providing services to both national and global cus-
tomers. Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellites provide a range of
spatial resolutions and the state of the art cameras of the IRS space-
craft are reported to provide pictures of the Earth in different spec-
tral bands. The IRS series that are in service today include IRS-1C,
IRS-1D, IRS-P3, OCEANSAT-1, Technology Experimental Satellite
(TES), RESOURCESAT-1, and the CARTOSAT-1 that launched
recently. Some of the future ones planned include: CARTOSAT-2, and
OCEANSAT-2.
Toward the end of the 1970s, India had also developed various
launch vehicles, which have made the Indian space quite independent,
and Indias launch capabilities were a reection of its technological
advancement. Today, its space launching capabilities are particularly
noteworthy, and it is offering launch services to the world at large.
Some of the notable launches were the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV),
Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle (PSLV), and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
Indias GSLV (the project started in 1990) launched successfully on
April 18, 2001, is considered particularly signicant since it enabled
India to launch its INSAT-type satellites into geostationary orbit on its
own and made them less dependent on foreign rockets. India until then
had relied on the Soviet Union to launch heavy satellites. India is also
reported to be working on reusable launch vehicles (RLVs)AVATAR
Scramjetalthough they are still in the conceptual stage.
Finally, Indias Chandrayaan mission has given Indias space pro-
le a great boost. Launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre,
Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on October 22, 2008 and operated until
August 2009, Chandrayaan became Indias rst unmanned lunar mis-
sion. The mission was a major technology demonstrator too as India
Indias Space Program: A Chronology 347
became one of a fewcountries to develop its own technology to explore
the Moon. Among the specic study areas were the search for surface
or sub-surface water-ice on the moon and chemical and mineralogi-
cal mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of mineral and
chemical elements such as magnesium, aluminum, silicon, calcium, iron
and titanium as well as high atomic number elements such as radon,
uranium and thorium with high spatial resolution.
As far as commercialization of space is concerned, ISROs commer-
cial wing, Antrix, does the marketing of Indias space services globally,
particularly the launch services, which are growing at a fast pace. Antrix
has remained a single-point agency for coordinating with the global
community, in terms of making available IRS data, data processing
equipment, or for launch services using Indias PSLV.
Indias engagement with the international community in the space
domain has also been signicant, starting from its cooperation with
the Soviet Union for its rst satellite. India today has Memorandum
of Understanding/Agreements with 26 countries/space agencies. The
UN-sponsored Centre for Space Science and Technology Education
in Asia and the Pacic (CSSTE-AP), established in India in 1995,
offers regular training to space personnel of the Asia Pacic region.
India offers training to personnel from the Asia Pacic also through
its Sharing of Experience in Space (SHARES) program. Additionally,
ISRO launches scientic payloads of other agencies such as the
Modular Opto-electronic Scanner of DLR, Germany, among others.
Indias Space Program: A Timeline
1961
The government put Space Research under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Atomic Energy.
1962
The Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was
established with Dr. Vikram Sarabhai as its Chairman; Thumba
Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) was also formed in
the same year.
1963
TERLS launched the rst sounding rocket.
348 India Review
1969
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was established.
197276
ISRO conducts air-borne remote sensing experiments.
1975
April 19: Indias rst satellite Aryabhata launched.
1979
June 7: Bhaskara-I red into space.
August 10: ISRO launched SLV-3 with Rohini Technology Payload on
board, although the satellite could not be placed in orbit.
1981
June 19: An experimental geo-stationary communication satellite
APPLEsuccessfully launched.
November 20: Bhaskara-II was launched.
19822003
INSAT satellites series launched.
1982
April 10: INSAT-1A launched.
1983
August 30: INSA-1B was launched.
1984
April: Indo-Soviet manned space mission launched.
1988
July 21: INSAT-1C was launched.
1990
June 12: INSAT-1D was launched.
1992
July 10: INSAT-2A was launched.
1993
July 23: INSAT-2B launched.
1995
December 7: INSAT-2C launched.
Indias Space Program: A Chronology 349
1997
June 4: INSAT-2D launched.
1999
April 3: INSAT-2E launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana.
May 26: IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT) launched by PSLV along with Korean
KITSAT-3 and German DLR-TUBSAT from Sriharikota.
2000
March 22: INSAT-3B launched from Kourou French Guyana.
2001
October 22: PSLV-C3 launched three satellites, Technology
Experiment Satellite (TES) of ISRO, BIRD of Germany, and
PROBA of Belgium.
2002
January 24: INSAT-3C by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana.
September 12: PSLV-C4 launched KALPANA-1 satellite from
Sriharikota.
2003
April 10: INSAT-3A launched by Ariane from Kourou French
Guyana.
September 28: INSAT-3E launched.
October 17: PSLV-C5 launched RESOURCESAT-1 satellite.
2004
September 20: GSLV launched EDUSAT.
2005
May 5: PSLV-C6 carried CARTOSAT-1 and HAMSAT satellites into
orbit.
December 2: Launch of INSAT-4A by Ariane from Kourou French
Guyana.
2007
January 10: Indias CARTOSAT-2 and Space Capsule Recovery
Experiment (SRE-1), Indonesias LAPAN-TUBSAT and
Argentinas PEHUENSAT-1 launched together.
January 22: Successful recovery of SRE-1 from Bay of Bengal after it
re-entered the earths atmosphere.
350 India Review
March 12: Launch of INSAT-4B by Ariane from Kourou French
Guyana.
April 23: PSLV-C8 launched Italian astronomical satellite AGILE.
September 2: Launch of INSAT-4CR.
2008
January 21: PSLV-C10 launched TECSAR satellite under a commercial
contract with Antrix Corporation.
April 28: PSLV-C9 launched CARTOSAT-2A, IMS-1, and 8 foreign
satellites.
October 22: Chandrayaan-1 launched by a modied version of PSLV
XL.
November 14: Moon Impact Probe landed on Moons South Pole.
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