ISRO: The Indian Space Research Organisation
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) ( भारतीय अंतरिक्ष अनुसंधान संगठन, इसरो) is the space agency of the Government of India and has its headquarters in the city of Bengaluru.
Its vision is to "harness space technology for national development while pursuing space science research & planetary exploration".
The Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established by Jawaharlal Nehru under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in 1962, with the urging of scientist Vikram Sarabhai recognizing the need in space research.
INCOSPAR grew and became ISRO in 1969, also under the DAE. In 1972, the Government of India had set up a Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS), bringing ISRO under the DOS. The establishment of ISRO thus institutionalized space research activities in India.
It is managed by the DOS, which reports to the Prime Minister of India.
Key Description of ISRO:
Abbreviation: ISRO
Founder: Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai
Director: Kailasavadivoo Sivan
Formation: 15 August 1969
Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Subsidiary: Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
Administrator: K. Sivan (Chairman)
Primary spaceport: Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC/SHAR), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)
Parent organisation: Department of Space
Budget: Increase ₹13,479.47 crore (US$1.9 billion)
Staff: 17,222 as of 2020
Social Network: Facebook, Twitter
Website: Link
Goals and Objectives of ISRO:
The prime objective of ISRO is to use space technology and its application to various national tasks. The Indian space program was driven by the vision of Vikram Sarabhai, considered the father of the Indian space programme. As he said in 1969.
Organisation Structure And Facilities:
ISRO is managed by the Department of Space (DoS) of the Government of India. DoS itself falls under the authority of the Space Commission and manages the following agencies and institutes:
- Indian Space Research Organisation
- Antrix Corporation – The marketing arm of ISRO, Bengaluru.
- Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad.
- National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), Gadanki, Andhra pradesh.
- New Space India Limited - Commercial wing, Bengaluru.
- North-Eastern Space Applications Centre[42] (NE-SAC), Umiam.
- Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL), Mohali.
- Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram – India's space university.
Research Facilities:
Facility | Location | Description |
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre | Thiruvananthapuram | The largest ISRO base is also the main technical centre and the venue of development of the SLV-3, ASLV, and PSLV series.[43] The base supports India's Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station and the Rohini Sounding Rocket programme.[43] This facility is also developing the GSLV series.[43] |
Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre | Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru | The LPSC handles design, development, testing and implementation of liquid propulsion control packages, liquid stages and liquid engines for launch vehicles and satellites.[43] The testing of these systems is largely conducted at IPRC at Mahendragiri.[43] The LPSC, Bangalore also produces precision transducers.[44] |
Physical Research Laboratory | Ahmedabad | Solar planetary physics, infrared astronomy, geo-cosmo physics, plasma physics, astrophysics, archaeology, and hydrology are some of the branches of study at this institute.[43] An observatory at Udaipur also falls under the control of this institution.[43] |
Semi-Conductor Laboratory | Chandigarh | Research & Development in the field of semiconductor technology, micro-electro mechanical systems and process technologies relating to semiconductor processing. |
National Atmospheric Research Laboratory | Tirupati | The NARL carries out fundamental and applied research in atmospheric and space sciences. |
Space Applications Centre | Ahmedabad | The SAC deals with the various aspects of the practical use of space technology.[43] Among the fields of research at the SAC are geodesy, satellite based telecommunications, surveying, remote sensing, meteorology, environment monitoring etc.[43] The SAC also operates the Delhi Earth Station, which is located in Delhi and is used for demonstration of various SATCOM experiments in addition to normal SATCOM operations.[45] |
North-Eastern Space Applications Centre | Shillong | Providing developmental support to North East by undertaking specific application projects using remote sensing, GIS, satellite communication and conducting space science research. |
Other Facilities:
- Aerospace Command of India (ACI)
- Balasore Rocket Launching Station (BRLS) – Odisha
- Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC), Bengaluru.
- Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR)
- Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS)
- Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC)
- Integrated Space Cell
- Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA)
- ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) – Thiruvananthapuram
- National Deep Space Observation Centre (NDSPO)
- Regional Remote Sensing Service Centres (RRSSC)
- Master Control Facility
Human Spaceflight Programme of ISRO:
In 2009, the Indian Space Research Organisation proposed a budget of ₹12,400 crore (US$1.7 billion) for its human spaceflight programme.
According to the Space Commission, which recommended the budget, an unscrewed flight will be launched after seven years from the final approval and a crewed mission will be launched after seven years of funding. If realized in the stated time-frame, India will become the fourth nation, after the USSR, USA and China, to successfully carry out crewed missions indigenously.
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi announced in his Independence Day address of 15 August 2018 that India will send astronauts into space by 2022 on the new Gaganyaan spacecraft.
After the announcement, ISRO chairman, Sivan, said ISRO has developed most of the technologies needed such as crew module and crew escape system, and that the project would cost less than Rs. 100 billion and would include sending at least 3 Indians to space, 300–400 km above in a spacecraft for at least seven days using a GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle. The chance of a female being a member of the first crew is "very high" according to the scientific secretary to the Indian chairman, R. Umamaheswaran.
ISRO satellites that were launched by foreign agencies, are listed in the table below.
No. | Satellite's name | Launch agency | Country / region of launch agency | Launch date | Mission life |
1. | Aryabhata | USSR | 19 April 1975 | ||
2. | Bhaskara-1 | USSR | 7 June 1979 | 1 year | |
3. | Apple | Arianespace | Europe | 19 June 1981 | 2 years |
4. | Bhaskara-2 | USSR | 20 November 1981 | 1 year | |
5. | INSAT-1A | McDonnell-Douglas | USA | 10 April 1982 | 7 years |
6. | INSAT-1B | USA | 30 August 1983 | 7 years | |
7. | IRS-1A | USSR | 17 March 1988 | 7 years | |
8. | INSAT-1C | Arianespace | Europe | 22 July 1988 | 7 years |
9. | INSAT-1D | McDonnell-Douglas | USA | 12 June 1990 | 12 years |
10. | IRS-1B | USSR | 29 August 1991 | 12 years | |
11. | INSAT-2A | Arianespace | Europe | 10 July 1992 | 7 years |
12. | INSAT-2B | Arianespace | Europe | 22 July 1993 | 7 years |
13. | INSAT-2C | Arianespace | Europe | 6 December 1995 | 7 years |
14. | IRS-1C | Russia | 28 December 1995 | 7 years | |
15. | INSAT-2D | Arianespace | Europe | 3 June 1997 | 7 years |
16. | INSAT-2E | Arianespace | Europe | 2 April 1999 | 12 years |
17. | INSAT-3B | Arianespace | Europe | 21 March 2000 | 10 years |
18. | INSAT-3C | Arianespace | Europe | 23 January 2002 | 12 years |
19. | INSAT-3A | Arianespace | Europe | 9 April 2003 | 12 years |
20. | INSAT-3E | Arianespace | Europe | 27 September 2003 | 12 years |
21. | INSAT-4A | Arianespace | Europe | 22 December 2005 | 12 years |
22. | INSAT-4B | Arianespace | Europe | 12 March 2007 | 12 years |
23. | GSAT-8 | Arianespace | Europe | 21 May 2011 | More than 12 years |
24. | INSAT-3D | Arianespace | Europe | 26 July 2013 | 7 years |
24. | GSAT-7 | Arianespace | Europe | 30 August 2013 | 7 years |
26. | GSAT-10 | Arianespace | Europe | 29 September 2010 | 15 years |
27. | GSAT-16 | Arianespace | Europe | 7 December 2014 | 12 years |
28. | GSAT-15 | Arianespace | Europe | 11 November 2015 | 12 years |
29. | GSAT-18 | Arianespace | Europe | 6 October 2016 | 15 years |
30. | GSAT-17 | Arianespace | Europe | 28 June 2017 | 15 years |
31. | GSAT-11 | Arianespace | Europe | 5 December 2018 | 15 years |
32. | GSAT-31 | Arianespace | Europe | 5 February 2019 | 15 years |
Statistics of ISRO (2020)
Total number of foreign satellites launched by ISRO : 319 (33 countries)
Spacecraft missions: 117
Launch missions: 77
Student satellites: 10 [231]
Re-entry missions: 2