India's first satellite, the Aryabhata, was launched by the Soviets in 1975. 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.
The INSAT series
INSAT (Indian National Satellite System) is a series of multipurpose geostationary satellites launched by ISRO to satisfy the telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology and search-and-rescue needs of India. Commissioned in 1983, INSAT is the largest domestic communication system in the Asia-Pacific Region. It is a joint venture of the Department of Space, Department of Telecommunications, India Meteorological Department, All India Radio and Doordarshan. The overall coordination and management of INSAT system rests with the Secretary-level INSAT Coordination Committee.
The IRS series
Indian Remote Sensing satellites (IRS) are a series of earth observation satellites, built, launched and maintained by ISRO. The IRS series provides remote sensing services to the country. The Indian Remote Sensing Satellite system is the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites for civilian use in operation today in the world. All the satellites are placed in polar sun-synchronous orbit and provide data in a variety of spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions to enable several programs to be undertaken relevant to national development.
Oceansat series
Oceansat are a series of satellites to primarily study ocean, part of IRS Series. IRS P4 is also known as Oceansat-1, was launched on 27 May, 1999. On 23 September, 2009 Oceansat-2 was launched.
Other satellites
ISRO has also launched a set of experimental geostationary satellites known as the GSAT series. Kalpana-1, ISRO's first dedicated meteorological satellite, was launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on September 12, 2002. The satellite was originally known as MetSat-1. In February 2003 it was renamed to Kalpana-1 by the then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in memory of Kalpana Chawla – a NASA astronaut who perished in Space Shuttle Columbia.
Extraterrestrial Explorations
India's first mission beyond Earth's orbit was Chandrayaan-1, a lunar spacecraft which successfully entered the lunar orbit on November 8, 2008. ISRO plans to follow up Chandrayaan-1 with Chandrayaan-2 and unmanned missions to Mars and Near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets.
Lunar Exploration
Chandrayaan-1 (Sanskrit: चंद्रयान-१) is India's first mission to the moon. The unmanned lunar exploration mission includes a lunar orbiter and an impactor called the Moon Impact Probe. India launched the spacecraft using a modified version of the PSLV C11 on 22 October 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The vehicle was successfully inserted into lunar orbit on 8 November 2008. It carries high-resolution remote sensing equipment for visible, near infrared, and soft and hard X-ray frequencies. Over its two-year operational period, it is intended to survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and 3-dimensional topography. The polar regions are of special interest, as they might contain ice. The lunar mission carries five ISRO payloads and six payloads from other international space agencies including NASA, ESA, and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, which were carried free of cost. The Chandrayaan-1 along with NASA's LRO played a major role in discovering the existence of water on the moon.
Planetary Exploration
The Indian Space Research Organisation had begun preparations for a mission to Mars and had received seed money of Rs10 crore from the government.The space agency was looking at launch opportunities between 2013 and 2015.space agency would use its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to put the satellite in orbit and was considering using ion-thrusters, liquid engines or nuclear power to propel it further towards Mars. The Mars mission studies had already been completed and that space scientists were trying to collect scientific proposals and scientific objectives.
Human spaceflight program
The Indian Space Research Organization has been sanctioned a budget of Rs. 12,400 crore for its human spaceflight program. According to the Space Commission which passed the budget, an unmanned flight will be launched in 2013-2014 and manned mission likely to launch by 2014-2015.[23] If realized in the stated time-frame, India will become only the fourth nation, after the USSR, USA and China, to successfully carry out manned missions indigenously.
Technology demonstration
The Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SCRE or more commonly SRE or SRE-1) is an experimental Indian spacecraft which was launched using the PSLV C7 rocket, along with three other satellites. It remained in orbit for 12 days before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and splashing down into the Bay of Bengal.
The SRE-1 was designed to demonstrate the capability to recover an orbiting space capsule, and the technology for performing experiments in the microgravity conditions of an orbiting platform. It was also intended to test thermal protection, navigation, guidance, control, deceleration and flotation systems, as well as study hypersonic aero-thermodynamics, management of communication blackouts, and recovery operations.
ISRO also plans to launch SRE-2 and SRE-3 in the near future to test advanced re-entry technology for future manned missions.
Astronaut training and other facilities
ISRO will set up an astronaut training centre in Bangalore by 2012 to prepare personnel for flights onboard the crewed vehicle. The centre will use water simulation to train the selected astronauts in rescue and recovery operations and survival in zero gravity, and will undertake studies of the radiation environment of space.
ISRO will build centrifuges to prepare astronauts for the acceleration phase of the mission. It also plans to build a new launchpad to meet the target of launching a manned space mission by 2015. This would be the third launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
Development of crew vehicle
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working towards a maiden manned Indian space mission vehicle that can carry three astronauts for seven days in a near earth orbit. The Indian manned spacecraft temporarily named as Orbital Vehicle intend to be the basis of indigenous Indian human spaceflight program.
The capsule will be designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with a rendezvous and docking capability. In its maiden manned mission, ISRO's largely autonomous 3-ton capsule will orbit the Earth at 248 miles (400 km) in altitude for up to seven days with a two-person crew on board. The crew vehicle would launch atop of ISRO's GSLV Mk II, currently under development. The GSLV Mk II features an indigenously developed cryogenic upper-stage engine.
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