The Indian Space Research Organisation is the agency of India that deals with space exploration and astronomy. Also known as ISRO, the organisation has mad many successes since its creation in 1969. It built and launched the Mars Orbiter Mission which made India the first country to get to Mars on its first try.
Creation
Organised research about space in India was led by two scientists: Vikram Sarabhai and Homi Bhaba. Bhaba was the secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy when it was founded in 1950. He supported Sarabhai in creating India’s first rocket launch station, In 1962, the Indian National Committee for Space Research was set up by India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. In 1969, ISRO was created to follow INCOSPAR.
Space flight programs
Like other space programs, ISRO has had many successes and failures. In the beginning, ISRO built satellites that were then launched by other countries, like the Soviet Union. Later, ISRO built many types of rockets. Some of those rockets are now decommissioned, meaning ISRO does not use them anymore. In the future, India also wants to send people to space and send more missions to other planets.
Launch vehicles
During the 1960s and 1970s India began its own rocket program. ISRO has had five different types of rockets.
The Satellite Launch Vehicle was a 4-stage solid-propellant light launcher. It was supposed to be 500 kilometres (310 miles) tall and be able to carry 40 kilograms (88 pounds). The first launch was in 1979 and launched every year until 1983. It launched successfully for the first time on July 18, 1980. This means that India is the sixth country to get spaceflight by itself. It is now decomissioned.
The Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle was a five-stage solid propellant rocket. It was able to carry 150 kilograms (330 pounds) into low Earth orbit. The design was based on the SLV and the project started in the 1980s. The rocket was tested in 1987, 1988, 1992, and 1994 and only two of them were successful. It is now decommissioned.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle uses an expendable launch system to carry things into space. It is still in use.
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle also uses an expendable launch system, this time to launch INSAT-type satellites. Currently it is India’s second-heaviest launch vehicle and can launch up to 5,000 kilograms (11,000 pounds) into low Earth orbit. There are multiple marks, or versions of this rocket. It is still in use.
