ISRO’s space odyssey, a timeline
   Date :23-Jul-2019

 
 
CHENNAI:
 
FROM the days of having a church as control room, the bishop’s house as office and a bicycle as ferry and naked eyes to track the smoke plume at Thumba in Kerala and converting a toilet into a satellite data receiving centre in Bengaluru, Indian space odyssey have come a long way to ferrying foreign satellites, launching Moon and Mars orbiters, and now planning to land on the Moon. Chandrayaan-2’s success brought in huge relief for ISRO scientists after the July 15 launch was called off just about an hour left following a technical glitch in the rocket.
 

 
The Rs 978 crore mission, that will mark a giant leap in India's space research and make it only the fourth country to have landed a rover on Moon, was rescheduled to Monday after scientists corrected the technical glitch in the three-stage rocket. Here’s a timeline of the epic journey.
 
1960s-1990s: The period of trials and turbulations n 1962: Indian National Committee for Space Research set up by Department of Atomic Energy and work on establishing Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) started in Kerala.
 
1963: First sounding rocket launched from TERLS November 21, 1963.
 
1965: Space Science and Technology Centre established in Thumba, Kerala. n 1968: Experimental Satellite Communication Earth Station set up at Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
 
1969: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) formed under the Department of Atomic Energy (August 15, 1969).
 
1971: Satish Dhawan Space Centre (formerly SHAR Centre) was formed in Sriharikota.
 
1972: Department of Space (DOS) established and ISRO brought under DOS. ISRO Satellite Centre established at Bangalore. Space Applications Centre established at Ahmedabad.
 
1975: Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (1975-76) using an US satellite.
 
1976: First Indian Satellite, Aryabhata, launched on April 19, 1975.
 
1977: Satellite Telecommunciation Experiments Project (1977-79) using Franco-German Symphonie Satellite.
 
1979: Bhaskara-1, an earth observation experimental satellite, launched. First experimental launch of Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3) carrying Rohini satellite. Satellite was not placed in the orbit. n 1980: Second experimental launch of SLV-3 with Rohini satellite. Mission successful.
 
1981: First developmental launch of SLV-3. Rohini satellite placed in orbit. Launch of APPLE, an experimental geo-stationary communication satellite. Launch of Bhaskara-2 by an USSR rocket.
 
1982: Launch of Insat-1A communication satellite by an US rocket.
 
1983: Second developmental flight of SLV-3 placed Rohini satellite in orbit. Insat system commissioned with the launch to Insat-1B satellite.
 
1984: First Indian cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma was in Russian space station Salyut-7 for eight days. He flew in a Russian rocket Soyuz T-11. n 1987: First development launch of Augmented SLV (ASLV) with satellite SROSS-1. Mission failed.
 
 
1988: Launch of Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite IRA-1A through Russsian rocket. Second developmental flight of ASLV with SROSS satellite. Mission failed.
 
1990s onwards: The era of PSLVs and foreign exchange earnings n The 1990s saw PSLV rocket hitting success repeatedly and becoming the workhorse of ISRO. The rocket also earned foreign exchange by launching foreign satellites. n 1991: Launch of second operational remote sensing satellite IRS-1B.
 
1992: First successful launch of ASLV placing SROSS-C satellite. Launch of Insat-2A, the first satellite of the indigenously built second generation Insat series followed by 3 and 4 series.
 
1993: First developmental flight of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) with IRS-1E. Mission failed.
 
1994: Fourth developmental flight of ASLV with SROSS-C2. Mission successful. Successful launch of PSLV placing IRS-P2 in orbit.
 
1996: Third developmental flight of PSLV with IRS-P3.
 
1997: First operational launch of PSLV carrying IRS-1D.
 
1999: PSLV started carrying foreign payloads (Korean and German satellites) along with ISRO’s satellite Oceansat.
 
2000 onwards: Getting ready the heavy rocket and going for interplanetary missions
 
2001: Successful launch of heavy rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with GSAT-1 satellite. Launch of PSLV with India’s Technology Experimental Satellite and satellites from Belgium and Germany.
 
2002: Launch of Kalpana-1 satellite on board PSLV rocket.
 
2003: Launch of GSat-2 onboard GSLV and Resourcesat-1 by PSLV.
 
2004: Launch of Edusat by GSLV’s first operational flight.
 
2005: Commissioning of second launch pad at Sriharikota. Launch of Cartosat-1, Hamsat by PSLV.
 
2006: Second operational flight of GSLV with Insat-4C. First time an Indian rocket carried a communication satellite. Mission failed.
 
2007: Launch of Cartosat-2 with Space Capsule Recovery Experiment and two foreign satellites and successful recovery of the space capsule. Launch of Italian satellite AGILE by PSLV and Insat-4CR by GSLV.
 
2008: Launch of Israeli satellite Tecsar by PSLV. Launch of 10 satellites by a single PSLV -- 2 Indian and 8 foreign.
 
Launch of India’s first Moon mission Chandrayaan-1 by PSLV. Sanction for Chandrayaan-2 given by the Government.
 
2009: Launch of Radar Imaging Satellite (Risat-2) and Anusat from Anna University (first satellite from an Indian University) by PSLV. Launch of seven satellites by PSLV, including India’s Oceansat.
 
2010: Failure of two GSLV missions. Launch of Cartosat-2B, STUDSAT and three small foreign satellites by PSLV.
 
2011: Launch of Resourcest-2 and two small satellites by PSLV. Launch of GSAT-12 by PSLV. Launch of Megha Tropiques and three small satellites by PSLV.
 
2012: Launch of Risat-1 and SPOT by PSLV
 
2013: Launch of Saral satellite, IRNSS-1A (navigation satellite) and Mars Orbiter by PSLV.
 
2014: Launch of GSAT-14 by GSLV rocket, IRNSS-1B and IRNSS-IC, SPOT 7 and GSLV-Mk III testing Crew Module Atmospheric Reentry Experiment (CARE).
 
2015: Launch of IRNSS-1D, DMC3 satellites from UK, GSAT-6, Astrosat, GSAT-15 by Ariane rocket, TeLEOS, Singapore. n 2016: Launch of IRNSS-1E, IRNSS-1F, IRNSS-1G, Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator, Cartosat-2 series, Scramjet Engine Technology Demonstrator, INSAT-3DR by GSLV, SCATSAT-1, Resourcesat-2A and GSAT-18 by Ariane rocket. n 2017: Launch of Cartosat-2 Series, GSAT-9 by GSLV, GSAT-19 by GSLV-Mk III, Cartosat, GSAT-17 by Ariane and IRNSS-1H (failed as heat shield did not open). n 2018: Launch of Cartosat, GSAT-6A by GSLV, IRNSS-1L, Flight Testing of Crew Escape System for human space mission, NovaSAR, UK, GSAT-29 by GSLV-Mk III, HysIS, GSAT-11 by Ariane and GSAT-7A by GSLV. ISRO decides to transfer Lithium ion battery technology. n 2019: Launch of Microsat-R, GSAT-31 by Ariane, EMISAT and RISAT-2B and second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2.