The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is India’s premier space agency, established in 1969 under the visionary leadership of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. Headquartered in Bengaluru, ISRO operates under the Department of Space, reporting directly to the Prime Minister of India. Initially formed as the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962, it was renamed in 1969 and later integrated into the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Over the decades, ISRO has evolved into a globally recognized leader in space exploration, satellite technology, and space research, with the mission of leveraging space capabilities for the socio-economic development of India.
ISRO made its first significant milestone in 1975 with the launch of Aryabhata, India’s first satellite, in collaboration with the Soviet Union’s space agency. Since then, ISRO has launched a series of successful satellites for various purposes including communications, weather forecasting, Earth observation, and navigation, strengthening India’s position in space technology. ISRO has also collaborated with leading space agencies like NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and Roscosmos, as well as domestic institutions such as the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
The Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan), launched in 2013, placed India among the select group of countries to reach Mars, making India the first country to do so on its maiden attempt. The mission carried out at a fraction of the cost of similar programs by other space agencies, showcased ISRO’s engineering and scientific ingenuity. Similarly, the Chandrayaan missions to the Moon have provided invaluable data on the lunar surface, contributing significantly to global lunar research.
ISRO now aims to send humans to space with its Gaganyaan mission.
It was nice on Mr Modi’s part to hug and pep up the spirits of a dejected Mr Sivan. But I’m hugely perplexed by one observation : when Mr Sivan first informed Mr Modi about the news, the latter was wearing a dark greyish jacket. When he is seen consoling Mr Sivan with a hug, Mr Modi is wearing a brown and orange chequered jacket!! Honestly, can anyone please explain this? Did CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF TIME pass between the two shoots, and the second one was arranged as some sort of an image-building effort for the PM or a damage control one?
Nothing wrong with it, but the way Mr Sivan got emotional during the hug sequence, it tells me a totally different thing : that, the PM was hugely upset when the news of Vikram’s failure was first told to him, which shook up the ISRO chief a great deal, and then the hug event was organized, by which time the PM had changed into a new jacket on the same premises during the same evening, apparently preparing to go for his next stop. Whatever, but I surely found it perplexing.
“But I’m hugely perplexed by one observation : when Mr Sivan first informed Mr Modi about the news, the latter was wearing a dark greyish jacket. When he is seen consoling Mr Sivan with a hug, Mr Modi is wearing a brown and orange chequered jacket!! Honestly, can anyone please explain this? Did CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF TIME”
You are talking about two different days/timings. Mr Sivan informed PM right after contact was lost, when he was sitting in the VIP viewers gallery. Hug happened in the morning when PM came back to address ISRO staff. In between he returned back to wherever Hotel/Guest House. He was NOT in the same premises during the two happenings mentioned by you
But I don’t blame you. It was post midnight so you might have been in semi sleep. mode. might have missed the entire event.
Image building. LOL
Something is seriously wrong with you Mr Gupta. This was by any standards a great achievement for Indian space program notwithstanding the failure of soft landing. The mission is significantly larger than just landing the craft on moon’s surface. Only a complete ignoramus would characterize this as a complete failure that we should all mourn. This betrays complete lack of space exploration history of any country on the planet , not just India. On top of that you make it a political issues where none exists. Any prime minister worth his salt has to encourage the team and the country. A 100 million children were probably excited and watching the landing. many of them have the sense to say on TV, that success takes patience and tries. And a curmudgeon like you thinks we should all mourn.
Modi was out there to divert attention from the core issues and when the mission failed ,he enacted the hugging drama to realise the goal.If he genuine he would have addressed a press conference to talk to the nation
Kindly proof read your article before posting it hastily. It’s ISRO not IRSO , there in the very second line of ART.
Modi and Sivan – two underprivileged men who reached the top with nothing but their hard work. They are an inspiration to all youngsters.
The whole article is not about ISRO’s success or failure, but how much of political party getting mileage. Also question anything and everything what a politician does, be it morale boosting hug or show solidarity in supporting a mission. The authors always look at where is politician is trying to maximize as much as journalists do the same. The Tom and Jerry chase between politicians and journalists will continue as one need the other. What is disgusting off late is to bring Kashmir and what international media think about India in every wrte up and comment as if India is surving only because of international media. Without vomiting these two, nothing goes from their brain.
Surprising a comment under moderation vanished as my mild critic was not liked by The Print. Understandable after all you don’t want to get into trouble
Apologies to print for my unwarranted doubt over rejection of my critical comment.
The write up was more like a political cover than anything about the Chandrayaan mission. Wherever possible take maximum political mileage, this is what most of our politicians as well as journalists are doing now a days
It’s a pity where we are heading
Every true citizen is proud on our achievements in science and technology, the journey of ISRO and other institutions dates back to since our independence so don’t try to undermine what we have achieved earlier days.
Like Mr. K. Sivan, Dr. APJ also belongs to a poor family who’s considered as missile man of Indu.
Yes, he used emotional reaction of Dr Sivan to hog limelight. Any PM would have reacted the same. No one will simply walk away without motivating.
What is saddening in this stance emanating from an instutution like the Indian Institute of Advanced Study is that everything revolves around a speech. But one does not go beyond, we make brief allusions to the 1st PM of the Republic, more or less forced ?, and somewhere there is an attempt to recover all that has been done in India since the beginning of his space program. Successes and failures belong above all to the scientific community. Politics when it carries out responsibilities may be a visionary and instill a particular dimension to this or that public policy. This was the case of the 1st PM of the country. Science can not be monopolized by an ideology. In the past we have seen what happened when science relayed an ideology. In the contemporary world and now, there are sorcerer-apprentices who seem to want to follow this pattern. We must think that reason and wisdom will avoid this backtracking. Finally, the last sentence of the article devoted to the delicate question of Kashmir shows the bias of this article and it shows that we are affected by the disease of appearance. We want to appear, but not to be. It is true that it is more difficult. But is not that what makes the DNA of India and its people?
One cannot – meaning absolutely no disrespect – now talk of the Indian and the global media in the same breath.