Vikram Sarabhai and The Indian Space Program

The Indian Space Program has made significant inventions and launched several successful missions that have made India a powerful country. Although this program wasn’t possible without the guidance of Vikram Sarabai who is popularly known as the Father of Indian Space Program. 

Due to this organisation, India launched its first satellite Aryabhatta and then shocked the world again by launching its first mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1. We also became the first country to reach Mars orbit in the first attempt. You will be surprised to know that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is one of the six largest space agencies in the world.

All of these achievements would not have been possible if the Indian Space Program was not launched. Let’s understand how this program was formed and learn about Vikram Sarabai’s key role in the making of this organisation.

How was the Indian Space Organisation Formed?

Going back to the roots of Indian Space Research, scientist S. K. Mitra in the 1920s learned about the sounding of the ionosphere using ground-based radio methods.

Later, C.V. Raman and Meghnad Saha also contributed to space research. However, major developments were seen in 1945. Organised space research was primarily conducted by two scientists: Vikram Sarabhai and Homi Bhabha. At that time Sarabhai had founded the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad. On the other hand, Homi Bhabha established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1945.

At the start, several studies were conducted on cosmic radiation, upper atmosphere and high altitude along with airborne testing. Deep underground experimentation was also done in the deepest mining sites in the world – Kolar mines. All this research was done in universities and research laboratories.

In 1950, the Department of Atomic Energy was established that provided funding for space research. Homi Bhabha was the secretary of this department. During this time several tests were conducted on the Earth’s magnetic field and meteorology. The Government of India supported space research and encouraged the establishment of research centres and observatories.

Finally, the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established in 1962 by the Prime Minister of that time, Jawaharlal Nehru under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) when Vikram Sarabai urged the development of the India Space Research centre. Initially, there was no dedicated ministry for the space program. All the research and studies related to space technology were carried out within DAE.

When Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister the INCOSPAR was replaced by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). In 1972, the Department of Space (DOS) was launched which was responsible for space technology development in India. ISRO came under DOS and the development of space technology started on a large scale rapidly.

Objectives of Indian Space Program:

• Achieve self-reliance in Space Technology.
• Develop and launch Indian Satellites and other space technologies.
• Environmental monitoring.
• Meteorological forecasting.

Major Achievement of Indian Space Program:

• On April 19, 1975, the first Indian Satellite – Aryabhata was launched.
• In the same year, Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was launched to educate the finally backward people and individuals living in remote places in India on various issues via satellite broadcasting. This also helped India gain practical experience in satellite communications.
• On 7th June 1979 Bhaskara-I, India’s first low-orbit earth observation satellite was launched which helped in collecting data on oceanography, hydrology and telemetry.
• Rohini is a series of experimental satellites under which 4 satellites were launched by the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV). Only 3 satellites made it successfully to orbit.
• On October 22, 2008 Chandrayaan-1, India’s first unmanned lunar orbiter was sent to orbit. This was India’s first mission to the moon.
• India has developed its expendable launch system – Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle which has been utilised in fourteen launches from 2001 to 2021
• On 5th November 2013 India launched Mangalyaan and became the first country to reach Mars orbit in the first attempt itself with an extremely small budget of Rs 450 crores. To put this into perspective NASA has spent more than Rs 6000 crore for the American Maven orbiter. 
• On 15th February 2017 India created a record by successfully launching 104 satellites in orbit using a  single rocket beating Russia which had launched 37 satellites in a single launch.

Conclusion:

The Indian Space Program has made significant and impossible developments in the field of Space Research. ISRO is not less than NASA in any terms! The vision of Vikram Sarabhai has made India an independent country in terms of space technology. The program has highly intelligent and creative scientists that can pull off any mission even with a limited budget, Mangalyaaa is a prime example of it.