UDAAN

THE RISE OF ISRO

SKAND PALIWAL
XII-BETA
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The Birth ofISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),the pride ofIndia and
our National Space agency was established on 15thAugust 1969.

As the national space agency ofour country,ISRO's purpose is the

pursuit ofall space-based applications such as research,
reconnaissance, and communications. It undertakes the design and
development ofspace rockets and satellites, and undertakes in
exploration ofupper atmosphere and deep space exploration
missions.

ISRO plays a crucial role nowadayswith it's communications and

remote sensing satellites in the life ofcommon man but earlierwhen
earlier the advantages ofspace programwas notwell understood,
the former president ofIndia and chairman ofDRDO, A. P.J. Abdul
Kalam, said responding to critics,
"Verymany individualswith myopic vision questioned the relevance
ofspace activities in a newly independentnationwhichwas finding it
difficult to feed its population. But neither Prime Minister Nehru nor
Prof. Sarabhai had any ambiguity ofpurpose. Their visionwas very
clear: ifIndianswere to play a meaningful role in the community of
nations, they must be second to none in the application ofadvanced
technologies to their real-life problems. They had no intention ofusing
it merely as a means ofdisplaying our might."

The roots ofIndia's space programwere planted in 1962 with the

formation ofthe Indian National Committee for Space Research
(INCOSPAR) under the Department ofAtomic Energy.INCOSPARwas
set up by Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, then the head ofthe IndianAtomic
Energy Commission,with Dr. Vikram Sarabhai as the chairman.
The primary focus ofINCOSPARwas to leverage space technology for
the development ofthe nation and to conduct space research. Dr.
Bhabha and Dr. Vikram Sarabhai played an crucial role in the
formation ofIndian Space Program. Dr. Sarabhai's contribution has
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been discussed later in the booklet.
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ISRO was formally established onAugust 15, 1969, by the Government
ofIndia, superseding INCOSPAR. The aimwas to promote the
development and application ofspace science and technology for the
socio-economic growth ofIndia. In 1972, the Indian Space Commission
and the Department ofSpace were created, bringing ISRO under the
Department ofSpace,which directly reports to the Prime Minister of
India. It operates as the primary research and development arm of
the Department ofSpace (DoS), which is directly overseen by the
Prime Minister ofIndia while the Chairman ofISRO also acts as the
executive ofDoS. ISRO has it's headquarters in Bengaluru.

ROLE OF VIKRAM SARABHAI

Dr.Sarabhai is
considered as the
Father ofthe Indian
space program. He
was a great
institution builder
and established or
helped to establish a
large number of
institutions in
diverse fields. He was
instrumental in
establishing the
Physical Research
Laboratory (PRL) in
Ahmedabad after
returning from
Cambridge to an
independentIndia in
1947, he persuaded

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charitable trusts controlled by his family and friends to endow a
research institution near home inAhmedabad. Thus, Vikram
Sarabhaifounded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in
Ahmedabad on November 11, 1947. He was only 28 at that time. .
Vikram Sarabhai served ofPRL from 1966-1971.He was also Chairman
ofthe Atomic Energy Commission.
The establishment ofthe Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
was one ofhis greatest achievements. He successfully convinced the
government ofthe importance ofa space programme for a developing
country like India after the Russian Sputnik launch. Dr. Vikram
Sarabhai emphasized the importance ofa space program in his quote:
"There are some who question the relevance ofspace activities in a
developing nation. Tous, there is no ambiguity ofpurpose. We do not
have the fantasy ofcompeting with the economically advanced
nations in the exploration ofthe moon or the planets or manned
space-flight.Butwe are convinced that ifwe are to play a meaningful
role nationally,and in the community ofnations,we must be second
to none in the application ofadvanced technologies to the real
problems ofman and society."
Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha,widely regarded as the father ofIndia's
nuclear science program, supported Dr. Sarabhai in setting up the
first rocket launching station in India. This center was established at
Thumba near Thiruvananthapuramon the coast ofthe Arabian Sea,
primarily because ofits proximity to the equator. After a remarkable
effort in setting up the infrastructure, personnel, communication
links, and launch pads, the inauguralflightwas launched on
November 21, 1963 with a sodiumvapour payload.As a result ofDr
VikramA Sarabhai's dialogue with NASA in 1966, the Satellite
Instructional TelevisionExperiment (SITE) was launched during July
1975 - July 1976 .Dr. Sarabhai started a projectfor the fabrication and
launch ofan Indian Satellite. As a result, the first Indian satellite,
Aryabhata, was put in orbit in 1975 from a Russian cosmodrome. Dr.
Vikram Sarabhai died on 30 December 1971 at Kovalam,
Thiruvananthapuram,Kerala. Dr. Sarabhaiwas a visionary scientist
who believed that a developing country like India must use advanced
technologiesfor national development. .
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He saw the potential ofspace technology in addressing various
societal issues such as communication,weatherforecasting, and
resource management.
His leadershipwas crucial in defining the objectives and goals ofthe
Indian space program. He envisioned a self-reliant space program
that could support the country’s development.

Early YearsOfISRO
Souding rockets are small suborbital rockets designed to take
measurements and perform scientific experiments. India launched it's
first sounding rocket, Nike-Apache, from Thumba Equatorial Rocket
Launching Station (TERLS) in Kerala on November 21, 1963. Thumba is
a small fishing village located near Thiruvananthapuram. Dr. Vikram
Sarabhai and his fellow scientists (including Dr APJ Abdul Kalam)
found the location perfectfor the launch ofIndia'sfirst sounding
rocket. So they went to Thumba to talk to the then-bishop of
Trivandrumwho lived in the house adjacent to the church. They were
interested in acquiring the church and the nearby land for their first
rocket launch.
The permissionwas granted, the paperworkwas done and the
villagers relocated to a newvillage with a brand new church in 100
days flat. The bishop’s home was quickly converted into an office, the
church became the workshop, and cattle sheds served as storage
houses and laboratories. Undeterred by the little funding and few
facilities, a handful ofenthusiastic young Indian scientists began
assembling their first rocket. The rocket parts were carriedfor
assembly by bicycles and bullock carts.
Early years ofISRO saw ISRO launching more sounding rockets and
developing it's own sounding rockets. ISRO started launching
indigenously made sounding rockets from 1965.In 1967, the Rohini
RH-75, an ISRO variant,was launched.
OnApril 19, 1975, using a Soviet Union launchvehicle,Aryabhata,
India'sfirst indigenous satellite was launched. After this ISRO never
stopped launching Bhaskara satellite in 1979.
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After mastering sounding rockets, ISRO looked to develop it's own

orbital launchvehicles. It took 7 yearsfor ISRO to develop Satellite
LaunchVehiclecapable ofputting 40 kg (88 lb) into a 400-kilometre
orbit. An SLVLaunch Pad, ground stations, tracking networks, radars
and other communicationswere set up for a launch campaign. The
development ofthe Satellite LaunchVehicle(SLV) began in the 1970s.
Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam played a pivotal role in this project. The SLV's
first launch in 1979 carried a Rohini technology payload but could not
inject the satellite into its desired orbit. Itwas followed by a successful
launch in 1980 carrying a Rohini Series-I satellite, making India the
seventh country to reach Earth's orbit after the USSR, the US, France,
the UK, China and Japan.
In 1984, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian citizen to enter space
when he flew aboard the Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11in collaboration
with the Soviet Union launchedfrom Baikonur Cosmodrome in the
Kazakhstan on 3 April 1984. The Soyuz T-11spacecraft carrying
cosmonauts including Sharma docked and transferred the three
member Soviet-Indian international crew to the Salyut 7 Orbital
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Station.
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The crew held ajoint television news conference with officials in
Moscow and then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. When Indira
Gandhi asked Sharma how India lookedfrom outer space, he replied,
"SareJahanSeAccha". Though many Indian born, like Kalpana
Chawla have been to outer space, there has not been another Indian
citizen after Rakesh Sharma to go beyond Earth.
Efforts to develop a medium-lift launchvehicle capable ofputting
600-kilogram (1,300 lb) class spacecrafts into 1,000-kilometre (620 mi)
Sun-synchronous orbit had already begun in 1978. They would later
lead to the development ofPSLV. The Polar Satellite LaunchVehicle
(PSLV) grew to be India's most reliable launchvehicle today,
aoutwhich more will be talked further in the book.
Following Sarabhai’s death in 1971, Dr. Satish Dhawan took over as the
chairman ofISRO. Under his leadership, ISRO consolidated its
achievements and set ambitious goalsfor the future, focusing on the
development ofindigenous satellite and launchvehicle technologies.
honor ofhis contributions, the satellite launch center in Sriharikota,
Andhra Pradesh, was renamed the Satish Dhawan Space Centre
following his death.The early years ofISRO were foundational in
shaping India's space capabilities. Withvisionary leaders like Dr.
Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. Satish Dhawan, ISRO embarked on a path of
self-reliance and innovation, establishing the necessary
infrastructure, achieving early successes in satellite and launch
vehicle development, and fostering international collaborations.
These efforts set the stage for ISRO's later achievements and its
emergence as a major player in the global space arena.

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Achievements OfISRO

ISRO's LaunchVehicles

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Satellite LaunchVehicle(SLV) was India'sfirst generation oflaunch
vehicle as we have already discussed. Itweighed 17 tonneswith a
height of22m and capable ofplacing 40 kg class payloads in Low
Earth Orbit.
The Augmented Satellite LaunchVehicle(ASLV) Programme was
designed to augment the payload capacity to 150 kg, thrice that of
SLV-3, for Low Earth Orbits (LEO). With a lift offweight of40 tonnes,
the 24 m tall ASLVwas configured as a five stage, all-solid propellant
vehicle. While building upon the experience gainedfrom the SLV-3
missions, ASLVproved to be a low cost intermediate vehicle to
demonstrate and validate critical technologies, thatwould be needed
for the future launchvehicles like strap-on technology,inertial
navigation, bulbous heat shield,vertical integration and closed loop
guidance.The first developmentalflight took place on March 24, 1987
and the second on July 13, 1988. The third developmentalflight,
ASLV-D3was successfully launched on May 20, 1992.

Polar Satellite LaunchVehicle(PSLV)

is the third generation launch
vehicle ofIndia. It is the first Indian
launchvehicle to be equippedwith
liquid stages. The PSLVwas first
launched on 20 September 1993 but
the launch didn'twent as planned.
After this initial setback, the PSLV
successfully completed its second
mission in 1994. PSLVhas had rare
setbacks after this and has grown to
be India's most reliable orbital
launchvehicle. The vehicle has
launched numerous Indian and
foreign customer satellites. Besides,
the vehicle successfully launched
two spacecraft "Chandrayaan-1 in
2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in
2013". 9
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It has launched India'sfirst space observatory, Astrosat and India's
first Solar mission, Aditya-L1. PSLVearned its title 'the workhorse of
ISRO' through consistently delivering various satellites into low earth
orbits, particularly the IRS Series ofsatellites.
PSLV(C-37) on February 15, 2017, created history and world record by
successfully launching 104 satellites on a single mission. India
overtook the previous record of37 satellites launched (by Russia in
2014). This recordwas broken by SpaceX's Falcon-9 in 2021.

Geosynchronous Satellite LaunchVehicleMark II (GSLVMk II) is a

geosynchronous satellite LaunchVehiclethat launches satellites in
geo transfer orbit using cryogenic third stage. Initially Russian GK
supplied cryogenic stageswere used. Later cryogenic stage was
indigenously developed and inducted in Jan 2014 from GSLVD5
onwards. This operationalfourth generation launchvehicle is a three
stage vehicle withfour liquid strap-ons. The flight proven
indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS), forms the third
stage ofGSLVMk II.The GSLVMk II stands 49 meters tall, with a Core
Diameter of2.8 meters and a liftoffmass ofabout 414,000 Kilograms.

LVM3is configured as a three stage vehicle with two solid strap-on

motors (S200), one liquid core stage (L110) and a high thrust cryogenic
upper stage (C25). The S200 solid motor is among the largest solid
boosters in the world with 204 tonnes ofsolid propellant. The liquid
L110 stage uses a twin liquid engine configurationwith 115 tonnes of
liquid propellant,while the C25 Cryogenic upper stage is configured
with the fully indigenous high thrust cryogenic engine (CE20) with a
propellant loading of28 tons. The overall length ofthe vehicle is 43.5
mwith a gross lift-offweight of640 tonnes and a 5m-diameter
payloadfairing. .After several delays and a sub-orbital testflight on
18 December 2014, ISRO successfully conducted the first orbital test
launch ofLVM3on 5 June 2017 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

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ChadrayaannMissions
The Chandrayaan programme also known as the Indian Lunar
Exploration Programme is an ongoing series ofouter space missions
by ISRO for the exploration ofthe Moon. There have been three
missions so far with a total oftwo orbiters, landers and rovers each.
While the two orbiterswere successful, the first lander and rover
whichwere part ofthe Chandrayaan-2 mission, crashed on the
surface. The second lander and rover mission Chandrayaan-3
successfully landed on the Moon on 23 August 2023, making India the
first nation to successfully land a spacecraft in the lunar south pole
region, and the fourth country to soft land on the Moon after the
Soviet Union, the United States and China.

Chandrayaan-1
Chandrayaan-1was India'sfirst lunar probe, launched by the Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on October 22, 2008. Itwas a
significant milestone for India's space program, marking its first
venture beyond Earth's orbit.
The project required India set up its deep space network and the entire
project cost ¹360 crore.
On 22 October 2008, Chandrayaan-1was successfully launched
aboard the PSLVrocket. After earth bound maneuvers and trans
lunar injection, Chandrayaan-1 entered the lunar orbit on 10
November, making India the fifth nation to orbit Moon.

Not many people

know this but on
board
Chandrayaan-1
satellite was a small
probe called "Moon
Impact Probe" (MIP)
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whichwas meant crash purposefully on the Lunar South Pole on 14
November, the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) impacted near the
Shackleton crater, in the lunar south pole, this made India the fifth
country to reach the lunar surface and the first to reach lunar south
pole. The MIP made the most significant discovery by confirming the
existence ofwater on Moon. This discovery was not made public until
NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper payload onboard Chandrayaan-1
orbiter confirmed the same on 24 September 2009. The missionwas
intended to last two years, but the contactwith the orbiterwas lost on
28 August 2009,which officially ended the mission.

Chandrayaan-1's success echoed around the world and showedwhat

ISRO is capable of. ISRO played the primary role in confirming
existence ofwater on moon.

Chandrayaan-2
After the success ofthe Chandrayaan-1 mission, a follow-up mission
worth ¹425 crore was already being planned and was targetedfor a
launch in 2012. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam suggestedfor collaboration
between India and the United States for the Chandrayaan-2 mission,
whichwould soft land near the lunar south pole and perform robotic
penetrations into the surface to study more about the lunarwater.
However, an agreement had already been signed in the year 2007 by
ISRO and Roscosmos, the Russianfederal space agency,for the second
lunar mission under the Chandrayaan-2 project. But things didn't
work out between the two agencies and the projectwas delayed.
Therefore the unused Chandrayaan-2 orbiter hardware was
repurposed to be used for Mars Orbiter Mission.
Chandrayaan-2was the second mission under the programme and it
included an orbiter, lander, and rover. The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter
enabled ISRO to conduct science with modern cameras and
instruments. The primary objectives ofthis missionwere to soft land
on the surface and operate a rover, to study the lunar surface, its
exosphere, minerals and water ice.
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while the Chandrayaan-2 composite (orbiter, lander and rover)
weighed 3,850 kg (8,490 lb) in total, the orbiter alone weighed 2,379 kg
(5,245 lb). It carried eight scientific instrumentswith two ofthe
instruments.

On 22 July 2019, Chandrayaan-2worth around ¹800 crore was finally

launched on LVM3putting an end to several roadblocks that hit the
mission during the decade. After orbit-raising maneuvers and finally
the trans lunar injection, Chandrayaan-2 attained the lunar Orbit on
20 August. On 6 September 2019, during the descent to the surface, the
contactwith the landerwas lost after it crash-landed.According to
the chairman K. Sivan, the landerwas operating as expected until it
wasjust 2.1 km above the surface when it started deviating from the
intended trajectory.Four years later, ISRO chairman S. Somanath
revealed three major reasonsfor the failure, the presence offive
engines that generated a higher thrustwhich made the errors
accumulate over time, the lander being unable to turnvery fast
because itwas not expected to perform at such a high pace turning
and the final reasonwas the small 500x500 m landing site chosen that
left the landerwith less roomfor error.

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while the Chandrayaan-2 composite (orbiter, lander and rover)
weighed 3,850 kg (8,490 lb) in total, the orbiter alone weighed 2,379 kg
(5,245 lb). It carried eight scientific instrumentswith two ofthe
instruments.

On 22 July 2019, Chandrayaan-2worth around ¹800 crore was finally

launched on LVM3putting an end to several roadblocks that hit the
mission during the decade. After orbit-raising maneuvers and finally
the trans lunar injection, Chandrayaan-2 attained the lunar Orbit on
20 August. On 6 September 2019, during the descent to the surface, the
contactwith the landerwas lost after it crash-landed.According to
the chairman K. Sivan, the landerwas operating as expected until it
wasjust 2.1 km above the surface when it started deviating from the
intended trajectory.Four years later, ISRO chairman S. Somanath
revealed three major reasonsfor the failure, the presence offive
engines that generated a higher thrustwhich made the errors
accumulate over time, the lander being unable to turnvery fast
because itwas not expected to perform at such a high pace turning
and the final reasonwas the small 500x500 m landing site chosen that
left the landerwith less roomfor error.

Chandrayaan-3
With the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter already operational and the need of
demonstrating landing capabilities, Chandrayaan-3's orbiter carried
only a single payload and for its main purpose served as a propulsion
module for carrying Vikramto the Moon. The Spectro-polarimetry of
Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payloadwas developed to study
Earth's atmosphere from distance and itwould aid in the study of
Exoplanets' atmospheres, which employs a similar technique.
Chandrayaan-3was launched on 14 July 2023 aboard LVM3and on 16
August 2023, the composite attained a final lunar orbit of113 km × 157
km (70 mi × 98 mi).

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On 23 August 2023, the lander Vikramsuccessfully soft landed in the
lunar south pole region, achieving humanity'sfirst soft landing in the
region and making India the fourth country to soft land on the Moon
after Soviet Union, United States and China. Soon after the
touchdown, the rover Pragyangot down ofthe ramp and drove 8 m
(26 ft) making India only the third country to operate a robotic rover
on the Moon after Soviet Union and China.

Various scientific
equipments aboard
Chandrayaan-3 include-

1. ChaSTE : The scientific

instrument integral to the
mission's scientific
arsenal, ChaSTE serves
the purpose of
meticulously gauging the
thermal properties
inherent to the lunar
regolith.

2. LIBS: The LIBS

apparatus contributes
significantly to the
mission's objectives by
deciphering the elemental
composition oflunar
rocks and soil. LIBS
confirmed the presence of
elemental sulphur on
moon.

3. SHAPE: (Already
discussed)
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Mars OrbitorMission(MOM)
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), unofficially known as Mangalyaan] was
a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. Itwas launched
on 5 November 2013 by ISRO. Itwas India'sfirst interplanetary
mission and it made ISRO the fourth space agency to achieve Mars
orbit, after Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency. It
made India the firstAsian nation to reach the Martian orbit and the
first nation in the world to do so on its maiden attempt.
ISRO originally intended to launch MOM with its Geosynchronous
Satellite LaunchVehicle(GSLV), but the GSLVfailed twice in 2010 and
still had issues with its cryogenic engine. Waiting for the new batch of
rockets would have delayed the MOM for at least three years, so ISRO
opted to switch to the less-powerful Polar Satellite LaunchVehicle
(PSLV). Since itwas not powerful enough to place MOM on a
direct-to-Mars trajectory,the spacecraftwas launched into a highly
elliptical Earth orbit and used its own thrusters over multiple perigee
burns (to take advantage ofthe Oberth effect) to place itselfon a
trans-Mars trajectory.
The space agency had planned the launch on 28 October 2013 butwas
postponed to 5 Novemberfollowing the delay in ISRO's spacecraft
tracking ships to take up pre-determined positions due to poor
weather in the Pacific Ocean. Launch opportunitiesfor a fuel-saving
Hohmann transfer orbit occur every 26 months, in this case the next
two would be in 2016 and 2018.

The Mars Orbiter Mission probe lifted offfrom the First Launch Pad at
Satish Dhawan Space Centre using PSLVrocket C25 on 5 November
2013. The launchwindowwas approximately 20 days long and started
on 28 October 2013. The MOM probe spent about a month in Earth
orbit, where it made a series ofseven apogee-raising orbital
manœuvresbefore trans-Mars injection on 30 November 2013. After a
298-day transit to Mars, itwas put into Mars orbit on 24 September
2014.
T
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The missionwas a technology demonstrator project to develop the
technologiesfor designing, planning, management, and operations of
an interplanetary mission. It carriedfive scientific instruments. The
spacecraftwas monitoredfrom the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO
Telemetry,Trackingand Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru
with supportfrom the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at
Bengaluru, Karnataka.
On 2 October 2022, itwas reported that the orbiter had irrecoverably
lost communicationswith Earth after entering a seven-hour eclipse
period inApril 2022 that itwas not designed to survive. The following
day,ISRO released a statement that all attempts to revive MOM had
failed and officially declared it dead, citing the loss offuel and
battery power to the probe's instruments
The total cost ofthe missionwas approximately ¹450 Crore, making it
the least-expensive Mars mission to date

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ADITYA-L-1
Aditya-L1 is a coronagraphy spacecraftfor studying the solar
atmosphere, designed and developed by ISRO and various other
Indian Space Research Institutes. It is orbiting at about 1.5 million km
from Earth in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) between
the Earth and the Sun, where itwill study the solar atmosphere, solar
magnetic storms, and their impact on the environment around the
Earth.
It is the first Indian mission dedicated to observe the Sun. Aditya-L1
was launched aboard the PSLVC57 on 2 September 2023, It
successfully achieved its intended orbit nearly an hour later, and
separatedfrom its fourth stage. Itwas inserted at the L1 point on 6
January 2024. The main objectives ofAditya-L1 are to observe the
dynamics ofthe Sun's chromosphere and corona.

Impact OfISRO On
Common People
The admirable efforts put in by the ISRO over the years have resulted
in massive progress in the field ofspace science and technology.The
advancements have contributed to the welfare ofthe common man in
the country.India's economic progress has made its space programme
more visible and active as the country aims for greater self-reliance
in space technology.ISRO has put into operation two major satellite
systems: the Indian National Satellite System (INSAT) for
communication services, and the Indian Remote Sensing Programme
(IRS) satellitesfor management ofnatural resources.

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India's remote sensing programwas developedwith the idea of

applying space technologiesfor the benefit ofhumankind and the
development ofthe country.The program involved the development of
three principal capabilities. The firstwas to design, build and launch
satellites to a Sun-synchronous orbit. The second was to establish and
operate ground stationsfor spacecraft control, data transfer along
with data processing and archival. The third was to use the data
obtainedfor various applications on the ground.
India demonstrated the ability ofremote sensing for societal
application by detecting coconut root-wilt disease from a helicopter
mounted multispectral camera in 1970. This was followed by flying
two experimental satellites, Bhaskara-1 in 1979 and Bhaskara-2 in
1981. These satellites carried optical and microwave payloads.
India's remote sensing programme under the ISRO started offin 1988
with the IRS-1A, the first ofthe series ofindigenous state-of-art
operating remote sensing satellites.

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