INDIAN SPACE RESERACH ORGANIZATION(ISRO)
On April 1st 2019, the Indian Space Research Organization - ISRO - deployed an intelligence satellite EMISAT along with 28 customer satellites. This April launch comes two years after ISRO launched a record breaking 104 satellites on a single rocket, an event that both the international news media and the space community looked at very carefully. |
| Source: Indian Space Research Organisation / Public domain |
Since its conception in 1969, ISRO has completed a total of 185 missions and is fast becoming one of the most effective and competitive space agencies in the world. It has also become an important cog in the wheel of India's future prosperity, and technological and scientific progress. Indian Space Program began in an era when the country was rife with internal problems of poverty, hunger, and illiteracy.
So how did ISRO manage to make it one of the most successful Space Programs on the planet?
Before we get into that, what is a successful space program? To build a working space program, you need these three basic things:
1. Satellites - they orbit the earth and provide information gathering and communication capabilities.
2. Launch Vehicles - you need something to breakthrough the earth's gravitational pull. Launch Vehicles are rockets that do just that by using different kinds of fuels.
3. Ground Infrastructure - infrastructure is needed to launch and communicate with the satellites. This includes launch sites and communication centers.
With that in mind, let's have a look at the history of ISRO. History ISRO was formed in 1969 with two broad aims First - application of space assets in helping the development of the country, and secondly- achieving self-reliance in manufacturing and launching capabilities. In fact, the very first experiments ISRO did were in areas of remote sensing - where they successfully detected diseases in crops, and telecommunications - using satellites to broadcast educational programs to rural parts of the country.
Broadly speaking, Indian space odyssey can be divided into 4 phases.
The first phase started in 1962 with the creation of Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR). During this phase the reasons for developing a space program and its future course were spelled out. It was Vikram Sarabhai's vision to start India's space program as a means to uplift the then socio-economic poor country, that led to its early success.
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| Dr. Vikram Sarabhai |
In 1963, with the help of the United States, the Soviet Union, and France - Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) was set up in Kerala and in the same year a US made rocket Nike Apache was launched to 200 km. This marked India's entry into space which led to the country launching its very first sounding rockets Rohini in 1969 and in the same year INCOSPAR was superseded by ISRO.
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| Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS)prepare to launch Nike Apache Source: Times of India / Public domain |
In the 70s and the 80s, the space program started it second phase - which was consolidation of the plans that were set up in the first phase and a lot of experiments. During this time the various applications of potential satellites were thoroughly tested. By the mid-80s India began manufacture its own satellites, set up the launch vehicle program and started working on the required space infrastructure. In 1975, India's first satellite Aryabhata was launched by the Soviets on a Kosmos-3M rocket. The satellite was dedicated to measuring stellar X-rays. and although it failed after just 41 orbits - it gave ISRO first-hand experience, which helped them improve their technology. After that, the duo of Bhaskara1 and Bhaskara2 became India's first successful satellites. In 1981 ISRO in cooperation with the European Space Agency launched Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment Satellite - APPLE, country's first telecommunication satellite. India's very first launch vehicle - Satellite Launch Vehicle or SLV-3 was also successfully tested during this time and India became the 6th country with its own launch vehicles. The SLV program was led by none other than a brilliant young APJ Abdul Kalam.
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| Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Source: Government of India / CC BY-SA |
In the 1990s, after all the aspects were tested and calibrated, ISRO began its operational phase. Multiple satellites were manufactured and launched for purposes of observation, telecommunication, broadcasting and meteorology. The two major launch vehicles - Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) were also developed during this time. This marked India's almost complete independence from relying on other nations for satellite launch and manufacturing capabilities.
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| Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Source: Asirbachan / CC BY-SA |
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| Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Source: https://twitter.com/isro / CC BY-SA |
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| Mangalyaan Source: Nesnad / CC BY-SA |
The current phase also includes the heightened corporation between Indian defense forces and ISRO which led to the deployment of multiple reconnaissance satellites. In the last week of March 2019, India also successfully tested an Anti-Satellite missile, cementing its place in global space arms race. In a new ISRO innovation, the PSLV, after deploying the satellites shifts its orbit in the fourth stage to perform scientific experiments. ISRO's commercial arm Antrix, that provides satellite launch services to other countries, has deployed almost 300 foreign satellite still date, and now competes directly with Arianespace, SpaceX and Roscosmos for micro and light satellite launches.
PRESENT Let's have a look again at the three things a successful space program needs and see how India is doing:
Satellites - India currently has multiple satellites under Indian Remote Sensing for observation, Indian National Satellite System(INSAT) for telecommunication and meteorology, and the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System for positioning, navigation and timing. Altogether ISRO has an estimated 45 active satellites in orbit Launch Vehicles - Over the years ISRO has developed two major launch vehicles - the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for lighter satellites with 44 successful launches and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle(GSLV) for heavier communication satellites with 8 successful launches. In the 90s ISRO developed and used Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) as a stepping stone to the eventual development of PSLV and GSLV. For even heavier satellites, like the GSATs, ISRO currently contracts France's Arianespace, that uses the Ariane 5 launch vehicle.
Ground Infrastructure - The Satish Dhawan Space Center SHAR in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh is ISRO's launch site, with two launch pads for the PSLVs and GSLVs and a launch service for sounding rockets. It also has facilities for vehicle assembly, testing, and a mission control center. In March 2019, SHAR opened a viewing gallery, where spectators can watch launches as they happen. And you must remember - all this achieved over the years on a significant lower (*in USD) budget than other spacefaring nations. FUTURE India is thinking of a significant increase in its number of active satellites with around 70 satellites planned for the next 5 years.
ISRO is also working on 3 new launch vehicles- a Unified Launch Vehicle (ULV) - that will be able to carry up to 10,000 kg of payload to the Low Earth Orbit, and will likely replace both the PSLV and GSLV. They are also in the final testing phase of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) - which will carry smaller payloads of 500kg. But apart from these, ISRO is also testing a Reusable Launch Vehicle - which can launch, complete its mission in orbit, and land back safely on earth's surface. It is expected to take around 10 years to develop fully.
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| Reusable Launch Vehicle Source: Johnxxx9 at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA |
The country is also returning to the moon in July 22,2019 with Chandrayaan2, but this time they are going to land on and explore the lunar surface with the Pragyan rover near the south pole of the moon. This mission is 95% successful. ISRO lost connection from Vikram lander just 2.1km above moon surface. But ISRO will try to land moon surface with Chandrayaan3 mission which expected to launch in 2021.This time we believe ISRO will succeed surely.
Other planned projects include the second Mars Orbiter Mission or Mangalyaan 2 by 2023, a mission to observe the Sun, Aditiya L1 in2021, and a planned mission to Venus, Shukrayaan 1 in 2023.
But the most interesting of them all is India's human spaceflight mission - Gaganyaan - which will send 3 Indians to 400 km above the earth's surface for 7 days by 2022. All the technologies for this mission have been developed and are currently undergoing rigorous testing. If it succeeds, India will become only the 4th country after Russia, USA, and China to carry out crewed missions. Further developments to the project include rendezvous and docking systems. India's reason of starting the space program was not of national security but of taking its population out of poverty by addressing its multi-faceted socio-economic issues. The country's space journey has been unique since the space program was created as a useful tool for a developing nation - to help and empower its citizens. And as India moves towards being a developed nation - ISRO's role in its future becomes increasing vital. Thanks for read the article please share the article.
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