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.
This episode came as a breath of fresh air (with a lot of background shaadiwala noise), the soft spoken Chairman of ISRO is a “rare to air” guest. I was happy that all the questions about big ticket projects were asked though a bit puzzled that neither Shekhar Sir nor Manu asked Mr. Kiran Kumar if ISRO was looking into developing or has developed a low tech on ground Civilian Offshoots Division where high tech projects can be assimilated into general public’s daily life. Like DARPA-NET is now Internet, Mobile telephony etc. Like batteries developed for satellites could be developed or manufactured and provided to remote villages where electricity transmission is a challenge. Another question also could have been about how much stress did the increase in digital transactions post demonetisation put on India’s satellite data transfer & connectivity.
Many Thanks