ISRO PART 2

                                    ISRO

Goals and objectives

The prime objective of Indian space research organisation (ISRO) is to develop space technology and its application to various national tasks. The Indian space programme was driven by the vision of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, considered the father of Indian Space Programme. As he said in 1969: Both China and India are great countries,

  There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the Moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society. As the former Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam said:

Many individuals with myopic vision questioned the relevance of space activities in a newly independent nation, which was finding it difficult to feed its population. Their vision was clear if Indians were to play meaningful role in the community of nations, they must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to their real-life problems. They had no intention of using it as a means of displaying our might.

India's economic progress has made its space programme more visible and active as the country aims for greater self-reliance in space technology. Hennock etc. hold that India also connects space exploration to national prestige, further stating: "This year India has launched 11 satellites, including nine from other countries—and it became the first nation to launch 10 satellites on one rocket." ISRO has successfully put into operation two major satellite systems namely Indian National Satellites (INSAT) for communication services and Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites for management of natural resources. ISRO has also developed the PSLV for launching IRS type of satellites and GSLV for launching INSAT type of satellites.
On July 2012, the former President, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam said that research was being done by ISRO and DRDO for developing cost reduction technologies for access to space.

Launch vehicle fleet

During the 1960s and 1970s, India initiated its own launch vehicle programme owing to geopolitical and economic considerations. In the 1960s–1970s, the country successfully developed a sounding rockets programme, and by the 1980s, research had yielded the Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 and the more advanced Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), complete with operational supporting infrastructure. ISRO further applied its energies to the advancement of launch vehicle technology resulting in the creation of PSLV and GSLV technologies.

Earth observation and communication satellites

India's first satellite, the Aryabhata, was launched by the Soviet Union on 19 April 1975 from Kapustin Yar using a Cosmos-3M launch vehicle. This was followed by the Rohini series of experimental satellites which were built and launched indigenously. At present, ISRO operates a large number of earth observation satellites.