APRIL 19, 1975 was a great day in the history of the Indian space program. It was on this day that the Indian satellite Aryabhatta was successfully launched into space. This 26-sided, blue and purple, diamond-shaped spacecraft, weighing 360 kg, was launched into a nearly circular orbit at an inclination of 510 to the equator, from a Soviet cosmodrome near Moscow. Designed and developed by Indian scientists and engineers at its Space Research Centre, Bangalore, with 90% of components made in India, this first satellite is named after the fifth century Indian mathematician and astronomer, Aryabhatta. Your goal is to explore the atmosphere of outer space. Supervised by the SHAR center, Sriharikota, transmits important information that is received by three monitoring stations, located in Russia, France and India. (Shriharikotta)

Then came Bhaskara, the second Indian satellite. It was released on June 7, 1979, also from Russia. This 44 kg experimental satellite, named Bhaskara-I after another ancient Indian mathematician, is intended for Earth observation. With radiometers, infrared television cameras, it transmits data on hydrology, forestry, oceanography and meteorology. Again, bhaskara – II, an upgraded version of Bhaskara – I, was launched on November 20, 1981. With two TV cameras and a 3-frequency microwave radiometer system, it has a wider scanning range.

But it is the Rohini Satellite (RSI) that was first launched from India. It was launched into orbit by the locally manufactured SLV-3 Satellite Launch Vehicle on 18 July 1980. This 4-stage solid-propellant rocket was designed and developed by Indian scientists and engineers at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. It also put another 38 kg satellite – Rohini (RSDI) into orbit, with the main objective of evaluating vertical performance for future programs. The launch was successful, but the orbital life of the satellite ended abruptly in 9 days instead of the planned 90 days. Again another 41.5 kg. Rohini – 2 (RSD 2) was put into low-Earth orbit on April 17, 1983, with the help of the 23-meter SLV-3 weighing 17 tons, also built by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center. The successful launch of RSD 2 completed the planned development of its SLV-3 series and laid the foundation for Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicles (ASLV), capable of launching satellites weighing 150 kg into space, and PSLV, capable of placing satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

India Space Applications Center (ISAC) Ahmedabad, developed a 657.5kg 3-axis stabilized geostationary satellite called APPLE. It was launched on June 19, 1981, from Kourou in French Guiana, by the European Space Agency’s Arian rocket, thus proving once again that India can achieve great technological feats and scientific wonders. APPLE was India’s first 3-axis stabilized geostationary communication satellite and India is the fifth nation to earn the distinction of developing such a satellite. Only the US, USSR, France, and Canada had this distinction before. Although the monitoring stations in Sriharikota, Ahmedabad, Fuji and Kourou started to receive information about altitude, temperature, etc., it is on June 27, 8 days after takeoff, that the Indian scientists were able to successfully complete all the maneuvers to put the APPLE on its planned course. The tense moments ended and India earned the applause.

But APPLE is just a launching point for a series of INSAT satellites to be launched for telecommunication, television and weather networking purposes.

The program received a setback when its first multipurpose satellite INSAT – IA failed, 5 months after its launch on April 10, 1982. Built for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) by Ford Aerospace of the USA and launched by NASA was to be the first step towards the implementation of the ‘Space Operations System’ to identify social economic objectives and national requirements, combining the services of telecommunications, meteorology, TV broadcasting and broadcasting. The satellite that traveled 37,000 km in space when passing over Indonesia disrupted the programs of the telecommunications, television and radio networks.

Under STEP (Satellite Telecommunications Experimental Project), ISRO has carried out experiments in communications in remote areas, using transportable terminals, integration of radio networks of satellite circuits, into territorial networks and multiple audio and video transmission.

The indigenous IRS-IA, which was launched by Vostok vehicle on March 17, 1988 from the USSR, has a variety of uses for assessing the amount of mulberry growth or the growth of cotton, rice, peanuts, and wheat. It would be possible to estimate production well in advance, before the harvest takes place.

And now, the INSAT-D series of satellites will be launched using proprietary technology. With this India joins the select group of countries that have launched satellites. On April 3, 1989, the Soviet Souyuz rocket flew into space. It was important for India because, in its crew, there was an Indian – squadron leader Rakhesh Sharma. And now we can proudly say that we also have a Neil Armstrong in our midst.

Therefore, the main objective of the Indian space program is the application of space science and technology to develop mass education and communication programs and conduct a study of natural resources by launching satellites, with maximum self-reliance.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is responsible for the planning, execution and management of Space Research. The main establishments it has are: Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC) in Thiruvanathapuram; the ISRO satellite center in Bangalore; the SHAR launch center in Sriharikota and the Space Applications Center (SAC) in Ahmedabad. While VSSC is the main research and development center, SHAR is its launch station.