How Isro promised you the moon and delivered

Maqsood Maniyar| NT

Bengaluru: Formed on August 15, 1969, the story of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and its stupendous achievements culminating in the landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon, is one of pain, toil and painstaking efforts.

Chandrayaan 3 managed what its predecessor Chandrayaan 2 couldn’t and made India the first country to manage a soft landing on the moon’s South Pole.

The other three countries that have managed a lunar landing are the US, Soviet Union and China. However, India’s space journey had much humbler beginnings.

The book ‘From Fishing Hamlet to Red Planet: India’s Space Journey’, a book penned by former Isro scientists, documents the same.

First satellite launched with Soviet help

The country started its programme with satellite programmes but didn’t have launch vehicles which was provided by India’s cold war ally the Soviet Union.

The first satellite was launched on April 19, 1975 and was named after fifth century astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata.

Unfortunately, the satellite worked for five days and then lost power severing communication lines. The satellites would have aided Indian efforts in communication, remote sensing of natural resources and meteorological examinations, which were in keeping with the vision of Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India’s space research programme.

This was followed by the satellites Bhaskara-1 in 1979 and Bhaskara-2 in 1981. These paved the way for Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellite system, a group of Earth Observation spacecraft. In 1988, IRS-1A was launched in the Soviet Union again.

It also carried tow cameras namely LISS-I and LISS-II, giving the country access to images for agriculture, forestry, geology, and disaster management purposes.

In 1981, India launched an experimental communication satellite called Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment (APPLE), which paved the way for the Indian National Satellite System (INSAT), a series of multipurpose geostationary satellites that aimed to meet the telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology, and search and rescue needs.

On July 10, 1992, came INSAT-2. With INSAT everything from forests, wasteland, environment, water resources, agriculture, ocean, fisheries, cyclones, floods and disasters could be investigated.

In 2002, KALPANA-1 became the first in the series of exclusive meteorological satellites built by Isro.

Abdul Kalam’s role in launch vehicles

Notable Isro scientist and former President Abdul Kalam played a pivotal role in the development of launch vehicles.

These ‘sounding rockets’ carry experiments to the upper atmosphere of the Earth and don’t go into space.

The previous attempt by Kalam and co which took place on August 10, 1979 failed. In 1980, Kalam led the SVL-3 mission which managed to place Rohini-1, a 40 kg experimental satellite, in space.

Its successor was the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), which was a SVL-3 vehicle with strap-on boosters capable of carrying a 100 kg payload.

The first successful ASLV launch came only in 1992. Next up was the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which delivered its first launch in 1994, carrying a payload up to 1,000 kgs.

The next advancement was the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) capable of delivering a payload of up to 1,750 kg to the lower Earth orbit. GSLVs use cryogenic engines — made up of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen — that provide greater thrust.

Next stop Moon, Mars

In 2003, Isro led by chariman K Kasturirangan convinced the then Union government to green light Chandrayaan-1, which would orbit the moon.

The craft was launched on October 22, 2008, and entered the lunar orbit on November 8. Fast forward six days, the Moon Impact Probe, which had the Indian colours on it, was made to crash land on the moon.

The orbiter detected the presence of water on the moon. The next major exploration was Mangalyaan, which was launched on September 24, 2013.

With this, India became the fourth nation to reach Mar’s orbit. In 2019, came Chandrayaan-2, which attempted a soft landing on the moon and failed.

Its lander Vikram tried to make the touchdown but ISRO lost communication minutes before the scheduled landing. It failed in velocity-reduction and crash landed. Chandrayann-3, however, accomplished the goal on Wednesday. 

After moon landing, Isro eyes Sept 2 for solar mission

After the successful moon lander venture, ISRO is now gearing up for the launch of a solar mission in a week's time, likely on September 2,