ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO /ˈɪsroʊ/) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), overseen by the Prime Minister of India, with the Chairman of ISRO also serving as the chief executive of the DoS. It is primarily responsible for space-based operations, space exploration, international space cooperation and the development of related technologies. The agency maintains a constellation of imaging, communications and remote sensing satellites. It operates the GAGAN and IRNSS satellite navigation systems. It has sent three missions to the Moon and one mission to Mars.

Formerly, ISRO was known as the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR), which was set up in 1962 by then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on the recommendation of scientist Vikram Sarabhai. It was renamed as ISRO in 1969 and was subsumed into the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). The establishment of ISRO institutionalised space research activities in India. In 1972, the Government set up a space commission and the DoS bringing ISRO under its purview. It has since then been managed by the DoS, which also governs various other institutions in the domain of astronomy and space technology.

ISRO built India's first satellite Aryabhata which was launched by the Soviet space agency Interkosmos in 1975. In 1980, it launched the satellite RS-1 on board the indigenously built launch vehicle SLV-3, making India the seventh country to undertake orbital launches. It has subsequently developed various small-lift and medium-lift launch vehicles, enabling the agency to launch various satellites and deep space missions. It is one of the six government space agencies in the world that possess full launch capabilities with the ability to deploy cryogenic engines, launch extraterrestrial missions and artificial satellites. It is also the only one of the four governmental space agencies to have demonstrated unmanned soft landing capabilities.

ISRO's programmes have played a significant role in socio-economic development. It has supported both civilian and military domains in various aspects such as disaster management, telemedicine, navigation and reconnaissance. ISRO's spin-off technologies have also aided in new innovations in engineering and other allied domains.

Modern space research in India can be traced to the 1920s, when scientist S. K. Mitra conducted a series of experiments sounding the ionosphere through ground-based radio in Kolkata. Later, Indian scientists like C. V. Raman and Meghnad Saha contributed to scientific principles applicable in space sciences. After 1945, important developments were made in coordinated space research in India by two scientists: Vikram Sarabhai, founder of the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad, and Homi Bhabha, who established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1945. Initial experiments in space sciences included the study of cosmic radiation, high-altitude and airborne testing, deep underground experimentation at the Kolar mines—one of the deepest mining sites in the world—and studies of the upper atmosphere. These studies were done at research laboratories, universities, and independent locations.

In 1950, the DAE was founded with Bhabha as its secretary. It provided funding for space research throughout India. During this time, tests continued on aspects of meteorology and the Earth's magnetic field, a topic that had been studied in India since the establishment of the Colaba Observatory in 1823. In 1954, the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) was established in the foothills of the Himalayas. The Rangpur Observatory was set up in 1957 at Osmania University, Hyderabad. Space research was further encouraged by the government of India. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 and opened up possibilities for the rest of the world to conduct a space launch.

INCOSPAR was set up in 1962 by the Government of India on the suggestion of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. Initially there was no dedicated ministry for the space programme and all activities of INCOSPAR relating to space technology continued to function within the DAE. IOFS officers were drawn from the Indian Ordnance Factories to harness their knowledge of propellants and advanced light materials used to build rockets. H. G. S. Murthy, an IOFS officer, was appointed the first director of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, where sounding rockets were fired, marking the start of upper atmospheric research in India. An indigenous series of sounding rockets named Rohini was subsequently developed and started undergoing launches from 1967 onwards. Waman Dattatreya Patwardhan, another IOFS officer, developed the propellant for the rockets.

Under the government of Indira Gandhi, INCOSPAR was superseded by ISRO. Later in 1972, a space commission and Department of Space (DoS) were set up to oversee space technology development in India specifically. ISRO was brought under DoS, institutionalising space research in India and forging the Indian space programme into its existing form. India joined the Soviet Interkosmos programme for space cooperation and got its first satellite Aryabhata in orbit through a Soviet rocket.