Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

• Indian Space Research Organisation is the national space agency of  India. 
• Headquartered in Bangalore, established on 15 August 1969, under the chairman, Scientist Vikram Sarabhai. 
• It performs tasks related to space based applications, space exploration and development of related technologies.
• In 1972, the Government of India set up the Department of Space (DOS). This department directly reports to Indian Prime Minister. 
• ISRO works under the DOS. The Chairman of the ISRO is also the Secretary in the Department of Space. 
• The Indian space programme was driven by the vision of Vikram Sarabhai, considered the father of the Indian space programme.

ISRO Structure 

• ISRO is managed by the Department of Space (DoS) of the Government of India. 
• Secretariat of DOS and ISRO Headquarters are located at Antariksh Bhavan in Bangalore.
• Space scientist K. Sivan is the current chairman of ISRO. 
• Important ISRO centres - 

1. Satish  Dhawan  Space  Centre  (Sriharikota): This is the spaceport of India. The Centre has 2 launch pads to launch PSLV and GSLV rockets. Sriharikota is in Nellore district of Andhrapradesh. 
2. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (Thiruvananthapuram) - It is the main technical centre for ISRO. It also has Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, It is very close to the magnetic equator of earth.  
3. U R Rao Satellite Centre (Bengaluru) - It is the lead centre for building satellites.  
4. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (Thiruvananthapuram) – It is the first university in Asia to be solely dedicated to the study and research of Outer space. 

Commercial Organisations of ISRO

1. Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL) is a company owned by Indian government to sell space technologies (developed by ISRO) to other private companies and countries. Established in 1992.
2. New Space India Limited (NSIL) is the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) with the primary responsibility of enabling Indian industries to take up high technology space related activities.  

Major Achievements of ISRO

• It built India’s first satellite ‘Aryabhata’. It was launched by Soviet Union in 1975.
• In 1980, ISRO successfully launched the satellite ‘Rohini’. It became the first satellite to be launched by India made space vehicle SLV-3. 
• ISRO designed India’s first communication satellite ‘APPLE’ which was launched from Kourou, French Guiana in 1981.  
• ISRO’s major satellites missions 

1. The INSAT series - The Indian National Satellite System is a series of multipurpose geostationary satellites used for telecommunications, broadcasting, and meteorology. Commissioned in 1983, ISRO has launched 24 satellites under INSAT program so far. 
2. Kalpana 1 - It is the first dedicated meteorological satellite launched in 2002. It is named after Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla. 
3. The GSAT series - The Geostationary Satellites are communications satellites used for digital audio, data and video broadcasting.  
4. The IRS series - The Indian Remote Sensing Satellites are a series of Earth observation satellites. These satellites are used in mapping ground water resources, forests, minerals etc. 
5. The RISAT series - Radar Imaging Satellite is a series of reconnaissance satellites used by Indian government for surveillance purposes. India launched RISAT-2 in 2009, after the Mumbai Terror Attack, 2008.  
6. South Asia Satellite - Also known as GSAT - 9. India launched this communications satellite in 2017 to help our neighbouring countries in South Asia. 
7. Satellite based Navigation Systems - 

• GAGAN satellite navigation system - Used for Air Traffic Management for civil aviation.
• IRNSS satellite navigation system - Also known as NavIC (acronym for Navigation with Indian Constellation). It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its borders.  

      8. Astrosat - It is India's first dedicated Space Telescope. It was launched in 2015.

Outer Space Missions by ISRO 

1. Chandrayaan 1 - It  was India's first mission to the Moon (Lunar Probe Mission). ISRO launched the spacecraft in 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. It discovered widespread presence of water molecules in lunar soil.
2. Mangalyaan - Also known as Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). It was launched by ISRO on 5 November 2013. It reached the orbit of planet Mars on 24th September 2014. 
3. Chandrayaan 2  - It is the second Indian mission to the Moon. It was launched on 22nd July 2019 and included a lunar orbiter, the Vikram lander, and the Pragyan lunar rover. However the mission failed as Vikram lander crash-landed due to software problems.  

• In 2017, ISRO launched 104 satellites in a single rocket (PSLV-C37). This record was broken in January 2021 by Space-X, an American company that launched 143 satellites through a single rocket.   
• ISRO launched its heaviest rocket GSLV-Mk III in 2017 to place GSAT-19 in orbit. With this launch, it became capable of launching 4-tonne heavy satellites.  

Satellite Launch Vehicles (Rockets): ISRO has developed two different satellite launch vehicles - 

1. PSLV: The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle for launching satellites into Polar orbit. PSLV has successfully launched hundreds of satellites. This rocket was also used to launch Chandrayan-1, Mangalyaan and Astrosat. 

1. GSLV: The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle for placing satellites into Geostationary orbit. Primarily designed to launch communication satellites,  it will now be used to launch crewed missions under the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme and Chandrayaan-2.

Upcoming ISRO Projects

• Aditya - L1: ISRO plans to carry out a mission to the Sun by the year 2022.  
• Shukrayaan 1: ISRO mission to Venus to study its atmosphere by 2023. 
• Mangalyaan 2: The next Mars mission will be launched in 2024.
• Gaganyaan: India’s first manned space mission to be launched in 2022. This mission will put 3 Indian astronauts to outer space (400 km above) for 7 days.