The Indian Space Research Organisation was launched in 1969 and ever since then, it has been a source of pride for India. With 124 spacecraft missions and 94 launches, it is one of the elite space organisations in the world. Its most recent success is Chandrayaan-3, the lunar probe which successfully made landfall on the lunar mission. With this India is one of the four nations to have landed on the Moon, and the first to land on the South Pole of the Moon.
With this huge accomplishment at hand, let’s look at the previous major achievements of India’s pride, ISRO.
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Here are some of the major and successful achievements of ISRO.
1. Aryabhata, 1975
Named after the legendary Indian astronomer, Aryabhata, the Aryabhata satellite was the first Indian satellite. It was completely manufactured, designed, and assembled in India. Weighing over 360 kg, the satellite was launched on April 19, 1975, by a Soviet Kosmos-3M rocket, from Volgograd Launch Station in Russia. It paved the way for other successful missions to come.
2. Indian National Satellite System (INSAT) Series, 1983
Initially launched in 1983, the INSAT series brought a revolution in the telecommunications sector of India. With nine operational communication satellites in Geo-stationary orbit, the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system is one of the largest domestic communication satellite systems in the Asia-Pacific area. The INSAT system has over 200 corresponders and provides television transmission, satellite newsgathering, social applications, weather forecasting, catastrophe warning, and Search and Rescue activities.
3. GSAT Series
GSAT (Geosynchronous Satellite) satellites are communications satellites constructed in India. These satellites are mainly utilised for digital audio, data, and video transmission. Out of the many GSAT satellites launched by ISRO, 18 are still operational.
4. Chandrayaan-1, 2008
It was India’s first mission to the Moon. Launched successfully on October 22, 2008, the mission turned out to be one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs as the craft detected the presence of water molecules on the lunar surface. It was through Chandrayaan-1 that the world got to know about water on the Moon.
5. Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), 2014
With the Mars Orbiter Mission, popularly known as MOM, India became the first nation to reach the red planet Mars on its first try. It was also the nation’s first interplanetary mission. Mangalyaan was launched on November 5, 2013, by the PSLV-C25 rocket, from Sriharikota. With this, ISRO became the fourth space agency to successfully launch a spacecraft into orbit around Mars. Despite having a mission duration of 6 months, MOM has been in orbit for 7 years as of September 24, 2021.
6. Chandrayaan-3
Chandrayaan-3 is the next mission after Chandrayaan-2, which aims to land safely and explore the moon's surface. With its success, India has become one of the four elite nations in the world to have landed on the Moon, after the US, and China. It is a major historical event not only for India but for the whole world. India has become the first nation in the world to successfully land on the South Pole of the Moon.
There are many more space missions to come and it is expected that India will continue to grow and dominate the global scientific and space exploration domain.
