India in Space: A Timeline
1961: The government put “Space Research” under the jurisdiction of the Department of Atomic Energy
1962: Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) established with Dr. Sarabhai as Chairman; Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) also formed
Nov 1963: TERLS launched the first sounding rocket
1969: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) formed
1972-76: ISRO conducts air-borne remote sensing experiments
April 19, 1975: Aryabhata- the first Indian satellite launched
1979:
Bhaskara-I fired into space on June 7
On August 10, ISRO launched SLV-3 with Rohini Technology Payload on board. However, the satellite could not be placed in orbit.
The Second Experimental launch of SLV-3; Rohini satellite successfully placed in orbit on July 18.
1981:
An experimental geo-stationary communication satellite - APPLE successfully launched on June 19.
Bhaskara-II launched on November 20, 1981.
(The Bhaskara satellites are named after a 17th Century Indian astronomer and was meant to study ocean and land surface data at a cost Rs. 65 million)
From 1982 to 2003, India sent a series of INSAT or the Indian National Satellite System into space proving its mastery in space science. INSAT is a series of multipurpose Geo-Stationary satellites for telecommunications, broadcasting and meteorology needs.
April 10, 1982: INSAT-1A launched
1983: INSAT-1B, launched on August 30
1984: Indo-Soviet manned space mission on April 1984
July 21, 1988: INSAT-1C
June 12, 1990: INSAT-1D
July 10, 1992: INSAT-2A launched
July 23, 1993: INSAT-2B
December 7, 1995: INSAT-2C
June 4, 1997: INSAT-2D
April 3, 1999: INSAT-2E launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana
May 26, 1999: Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT), launched by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C2) along with Korean KITSAT-3 and German DLR-TUBSAT from Sriharikota
March 22, 2000: INSAT-3B launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana,
October 22, 2001: PSLV-C3 successfully launched three satellites -- Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) of ISRO, BIRD of Germany and PROBA of Belgium.
January 24, 2002: Successful launch of INSAT-3C by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana
September 12, 2002: PSLV-C4 successfully launched KALPANA-1 satellite from Sriharikota
2003:
INSAT-3A launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (April 10, 2003). Successful launch of INSAT-3E on September 28, 2003. • ISRO`s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C5, successfully launched RESOURCESAT-1 (IRS-P6) satellite from Sriharikota(October 17, 2003).
2004: Maiden operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F01) launched EDUSAT from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota (September 20, 2004)
2005: PSLV-C6 carries CARTOSAT-1 and HAMSAT satellites from Sriharikota on May 5, 2005 into orbit.
Launch of INSAT-4A by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (December 22, 2005).
2007:
ISRO launches India’s CARTOSAT-2 and Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) and Indonesia’s LAPAN-TUBSAT and Argentina’s PEHUENSAT-1 at one go on January 10, 2007.
Successful recovery of SRE-1 from Bay of Bengal after it reenter the earth’s atmosphere on January 22, 2007 – a crucial operation that will help India in mastering the know how of reentering earth atmosphere from space.
Successful launch of INSAT-4B by Ariane-5 from Kourou French Guyana, (March 12, 2007).
PSLV-C8 successfully launched Italian astronomical satellite AGILE from Sriharikota on April 23.
Successful launch of GSLV with INSAT-4CR on board from SDSC SHAR on September 2.
2008:
PSLV-C10 successfully launches TECSAR satellite under a commercial contract with Antrix Corporation on January 21, 2008.
PSLV-C9 successfully launches CARTOSAT-2A, IMS-1 and 8 foreign satellites from Sriharikota on April 28.
Chandrayaan-1 launched by a modified version of the PSLV XL on 22 October 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 06:23 IST
Moon Impact Probe lands on Moon`s south pole on November 14
At present, Space Research Centres are located in our country as per the following details:
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram
Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Thiruvanthapuram, Mahendragiri, Bangalore
ISRO Inertial Systems Unit, Thiruvananthapuram
Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram
ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore
Laboratory for Electro-optic Systems, Bangalore
ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network Centre, Bangalore and Lucknow
INSAT Master Control Facility, Hassan in Karnataka and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh
Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Shriharikota, Andhra Pradesh
National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki, Andhra Pradesh
Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad
Development and Educational Communication Unit, Ahmedabad
Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad
National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad, Dehradun, Jodhpur, Nagpur, Kharagpur and Bangalore.