Indian Space Research Organisation

Indian Space Research Organisation
ISRO logo
Established	15th August, 1969
Headquarters	Antariksh Bhavan, New BEL Road, Bangalore, India
Primary spaceport	Satish Dhawan Space Centre
Administrator	G. Madhavan Nair (Chairman)
Budget	Rs.65 billion rupees (US$1.3 billion)(2008)
Website	ISRO homepage

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Hindi: भारतीय अन्तरिक्ष अनुसंधान संगठन Bhāratīya Antariksh Anusandhān Sangaṭn) or ISRO, (Hindi: इसरो Isarō) is India's national space agency. With its headquarters in Bangalore, ISRO employs approximately 20,000 people, with a budget of around Rs. 65 billion (US$1.3 billion at October 2008 exchange rates). Its mandate is the development of technologies related to space and their application to India's development. The current Chairman of ISRO is G. Madhavan Nair. In addition to domestic payloads, it offers international launch services. ISRO currently launches satellites using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and the GSLV for geostationary satellites.

History of Indian space research

India's experience in rocketry began in ancient times. Military use of rockets by Tipu Sultan during the Mysore War against the British inspired William Congreve to invent the Congreve rocket, predecessor of modern artillery rockets, in 1804. After India gained independence from British occupation in 1947, Indian scientists and politicians recognized the potential of rocket technology in both defence applications, and for research and development.

1960–1970

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai was the founding father of the Indian space program, and is considered a scientific visionary by many, as well as a national hero. After the launch of Sputnik in 1957 he recognized the potential that satellites provided. India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who saw scientific development as an essential part of India's future, placed space research under the jurisdiction of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in 1961. The DAE director Homi Bhabha, who was father of India's atomic programme, then established the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) with Dr. Sarabhai as Chairman in 1962.

The Indian Rohini programme continued to launch sounding rockets of greater size and complexity, and the space programme was expanded and eventually given its own government department, separate from the Department of Atomic Energy.

On August 15, 1969 the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was created from the INCOSPAR programme under the DAE, and continued under the Space Commission and finally the Department of Space, created in June 1972.

1970–1980

In the 1960s Sarabhai had taken part in an early study with NASA regarding the feasibility of using satellites for applications as wide as direct television broadcasting, and this study had found that it was the most economical way of transmitting such broadcasts. Having recognized the benefits that satellites could bring to India from the very start, Sarabhai and the ISRO set about designing and creating an independent launch vehicle, capable of launching into orbit, and providing the valuable experience needed for the construction of larger launch vehicles in future. Recognizing the advanced capability India had in building solid motors with the Rohini series, and that other nations had favoured solid rockets for similar projects, the ISRO set about building the technology and infrastructure for the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV). Inspired by the American Scout rocket, the vehicle would be a four-stage all-solid vehicle.

Aryabhata – India's first satellite

Meanwhile, India began developing satellite technology anticipating the remote sensing and communication needs of the future. India concentrated more on practical missions, directly beneficial to people, instead of manned space programs or robotic space explorations.^[1] The Aryabhata satellite, launched in 1975 from Kapustin Yar using a Soviet Cosmos-3M launch vehicle, was India's first satellite.^[2]

SLV – India's first satellite launch vehicle

By 1979 the SLV was ready to be launched from a newly-established second launch site, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC). The first attempted launch in 1979 was a failure, attributed to a control failure in the second stage. By 1980 this problem had been worked out. The first indigenous satellite launched by India was called Rohini-1.

1980–1990

Following the success of the SLV, ISRO was keen to begin construction of a satellite launch vehicle that would be able to put truly useful satellites into polar orbits. Design of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) was soon underway. This vehicle would be designed as India's workhorse launch system, taking advantage of both old technology with large reliable solid-stages, and new liquid engines. At the same time, it was decided by the ISRO management that it would be prudent to develop a smaller rocket, based on the SLV, that would serve as a testbed for many of the new technologies that would be used on the PSLV. The Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) would test technologies like strap-on boosters and new guidance systems, so that experience could be gained before the PSLV went into full production.

Eventually, the ASLV was flight tested in 1987, but this launch was a failure. After minor corrections, another launch was attempted in 1988. This launch failed too, and this time a full investigation was launched into the cause, providing valuable experience, specifically because the ASLV's failure had been one of control – the vehicle could not be adequately controlled on removal of the stabilizing fins that were present on the SLV, so extra measures like improved maneuvering thrusters and flight control system upgrades were added. The ASLV development had also proven useful in the development of strap-on motor technology.

1990–2000

The first successful launch of the ASLV took place in 1992. At this point the launch vehicle, which could only put very small payloads into orbit, had achieved its objective. In 1993 the time had come for the maiden flight of the PSLV. The first launch was a failure. The first successful launch took place in 1994, and since then, the PSLV has become the workhorse launch vehicle – placing both remote sensing and communications satellites into orbit, creating the largest cluster in the world, and providing unique data to Indian industry and agriculture. Continual performance upgrades have increased the payload capacity of the rocket significantly since then.

Under pressure, Glavkosmos, the Russian Space Agency, halted the transfer of the associated manufacturing and design technology to India. Until then, ISRO had not been affected by technology transfer restrictions thanks to the political foresight of Sarabhai in indigenizing technology. However, elements of the ISRO management cancelled indigenous cryogenic projects in anticipation of the Russian deal. Instead of canceling the deal, Russia agreed to provide fully built engines instead, and India began developing an indigenous cryogenic engine to replace them, in the GSLV-II. There is still some controversy over the issue of the cryogenic engine acquisition, with many pointing to the decision to cancel indigenous projects as being a grave mistake – India would have likely had a fully indigenous engine operating by the time the GSLV launched if indigenous development had started from day one. Despite this one uncharacteristic slip in an otherwise extremely successful programme, and the loss of potential payload capacity over the decade that occurred as a result, ISRO pressed on.

2000–2010

The first development flight of the GLSV – currently the most powerful Indian launch vehicle in operation – took place in 2001. The program’s benefits have been scrutinized due to frequent payload cutbacks and delays. The indigenous cryogenic engine for the GSLV's upper stage was tested in 2007. ISRO has reconsidered the effectiveness of the GSLV for the needs of the 2000–2010 decade and begun development of a new indigenous heavy launch vehicle, GSLV-III. The latter is not related to the GSLV-I/II and will be based around the proven format of liquid main stages and two solid strap-on boosters. It will resemble the Ariane 5 and other modern launchers and will have sufficient payload capacity for manned spaceflight. The inaugural flight is scheduled for 2009.

The AVATAR scramjet is a long-term project to develop a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) restricted to the launch of satellites. Theoretically, AVATAR would be a cost-effective launch vehicle for small satellites and therefore a commercially competitive launch system. A scaled-down technology demonstrator is scheduled to fly in 2008. Recently ISRO successfully tested a scramjet air breathing engine which produced Mach 6 for seven seconds. ISRO will continue research related to using scramjets in RLVs after 2010.

ISRO has entered the lucrative market of launching payloads of other nations. Prominent among them are the launches of Israel Space Agency’s TecSAR spy satellite, and the Israeli Tauvex-II satellite module. The CARTOSAT-2, launched on the July 2006, carried a small Indonesian payload of 56 kg.

Leveraging its expertise in cryogenic technology to design hydrogen fuel cells, ISRO teamed up with Tata motors to develop a prototype hydrogen passenger car for the Indian market, expected to hit the road by the end of 2008.

On November 15, 2007 ISRO achieved a significant milestone through the successful test of indigenously developed Cryogenic Stage, to be employed as the upper stage of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The test was conducted for its full flight duration of 720 seconds on November 15, 2007 at Liquid Propulsion test facility at Mahendragiri, in Tamil Nadu. With this test, the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage has been fully qualified on the ground. The flight stage is getting ready for use in the next mission of GSLV (GSLV-D3) in 2008.

On April 28, 2008 ISRO successfully launched 10 satellites in a single mission, further boosting its capabilities in space.^[3] These comprised the 690 kg CARTOSAT-2, another 83 kg mini Indian satellite, IMS-1, and eight other nano-satellites made by various universities and research and development institutions in Canada and Germany, offered at a subsidized price as part of a goodwill gesture by the Indian Department of Space.

ISRO successfully launched its first unmanned moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, mounted on PSLVC11 at 0622 hrs IST on October 22, 2008. The spacecraft was placed into lunar orbit and will survey the surface of the moon in greater detail than ever before and attempt to locate resources. As per the agreement between ISRO and NASA, two NASA instruments are also part of the Chandrayaan mission.

Timeline

1962: Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR); formed by the Department of Atomic Energy, and work on establishing Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) near Trivandrum began.
1963: First sounding rocket launched from TERLS on November 21, 1963.
1965: Space Science & Technology Centre (SSTC) established in Thumba.
1967: Satellite Telecommunication Earth Station set up at Ahmedabad.
1972: Space Commission and Department of Space set up.
1975: First Indian Satellite, Aryabhata, launched (April 19, 1975).
1976: Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) conducted.
1979: Bhaskara-1, an experimental satellite launched. First experimental launch of SLV-3 with Rohini satellite on board failed.
1980: Second experimental launch of SLV-3 Rohini satellite successfully placed in orbit.
1981: APPLE, an experimental geostationary communication satellite successfully launched on June 19.
1981: Bhaskara-II launched on November 20.
1982: INSAT-1A launched (April); deactivated in September.
1983: Second launch of SLV-3. RS-D2 placed in orbit. INSAT-1B launched.
1984: Indo-Soviet manned space mission (April). Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to reach space.
1987: ASLV with SROSS-1 satellite on board launched.
1988: First Indian remote sensing satellite, IRS-1A launched. INSAT-1C launched (July). Abandoned in November.
1990: INSAT-1D launched successfully.
1991: Launch of second operational Remote Sensing satellite, IRS-1B (August).
1992: Third developmental launch of ASLV with SROCC-C on board (May). Satellite placed in orbit. First indigenously built satellite INSAT-2A launched successfully.
1993: INSAT-2B launched in July successfully. First developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-1E on board fails.
1994: Fourth developmental launch of ASLV successful (May). Second developmental launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) with IRS-P2 successfully (October).
1995: INSAT-2C launched in December. Third operational IRS (IRS) launched.
1996: Third developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-P3 successful (March).
1997: INSAT-2D launched in June became inoperational in October. Arabsat1C, since renamed INSAT-2DT, acquired in November. First operational launch of PSLV with IRS-1D successful (September).
1998: INSAT system capacity augmented with the readiness of INSAT-2DT acquired from Arabsat (January).
1999: INSAT-2E the last satellite in the multi-purpose INSAT-2 series, launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana (April 3, 1999). IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT), launched by Polar Satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C2) along with Korean KITSAT-3 and German DLR-TUBSAT from Sriharikota (May 26, 1999).
2000: INSAT-3B was launched on March 22, 2000.
2001: Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-D1 (GSLV-D1), the first developmental launch of GSLV with GSAT-1 onboard partially successful.
2002: INSAT-3C launched successfully by Arianespace (January), PSLV-C4 launches KALPANA-1 (September).
2003: GSLV-D2, the second developmental launch of GSLV with GSAT-2 successful (May).
2004: First operational flight of GSLV (F01) successfully launches EDUSAT (September).
2005: Launch of CARTOSAT and HAMSAT by PSLV-C6 from the second launch pad (Universal Launch Pad) (May). INSAT 4A Launched successfully by the European Ariane-5G.
2006: Second operational flight of GSLV (F02) unsuccessful July 10, 2006. GSLV-F02 was carrying INSAT-4C.
2007: Successful launch of CARTOSAT-2, SRE-1, LAPAN-TUBSAT and PEHUENSAT-1 on PSLV C7 on January 10, 2007.
2007: SRE-1 splashed down in the Bay of Bengal on January 22, 2007 and was successfully recovered by the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy, making India one of the few countries to have re-entry technology.
2007: INSAT-4B successfully launched by Arianespace on March 12.^[4]
2007: PSLV-C8 successfully places an Italian satellite, AGILE into its orbit on April 23. This was ISRO's first commercial launch of a foreign satellite.
2007: INSAT-4CR was successfully placed in orbit, on the September 2, 2007, 6.21pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, on a GSLV-F04 rocket.^[5] It is the first INSAT satellite which was successfully launched from India.
2008: PSLV in its stripped-down version places the Israeli satellite Tecsar (a.k.a Polaris ) on its orbit . This is the second commercial launch of a foreign satellite by India. (January 21)
2008: PSLV-C9 (stripped-down version) successfully places 10 satellite in a single launch. Two of it were Indian satellites and the remaining 8 micro satellites from various research bodies from Europe and Canada. Cartosat-2A, IMS-1, CanX-2, Cute-1.7+APD II, Delfi C3, AAUSAT-II, COMPASS-1, SEEDS-2, CanX-6 and RUBIN-8 were successfully launched on 28 April 2008
2008: India successfully launched its first unmanned moon mission, Chandraayan-1, at 0622 hrs IST on October 22 2008.

Future plans

ISRO is planning a second Chandrayaan mission, named Chandrayaan-2. According to chairman G. Madhavan Nair, ISRO hopes, as part of this mission, to land a motorised rover on the moon in 2010 or 2011. An agreement for the mission was signed on November 12, 2007 with the Russian Federal Space Agency. According to the release on ISRO's website,^[6] ISRO will have the prime responsibility for the orbiter and Roskosmos will be responsible for the lander/rover. A Mars orbiter is also under discussion, with a proposed date as early as 2012,^[7] though no concrete funding decisions for such a mission have been made yet.

ISRO also plans to undertake a totally indigenous manned space exploration in the next decade and is planning to send a person into space by 2014. Some technologies needed for a manned mission are already under development and ISRO has already set up a Deep Space Network in Byalalu village near Bangalore. The Indian Deep Space Network consists mainly of two powerful dish antennas measuring 32 metres and 18 metres in diameter to track all its future space missions. A third antenna measuring 11 meters in diameter will be erected for the ASTROSAT mission.^[8]^[9]^[10] ISRO is also planning to study the Sun. Scientists at ISRO are in the advanced stage of designing a spacecraft, named Aditya, to study the corona – the outermost region of the Sun.^[11]

ISRO has started the development of the its next launch vehicle, known as the GSLV Mark-III, which has an indigenous cryogenic engine capable of launching satellites weighing up to 6 tons in the final configuration. ISRO will be launching various satellites for European and Russian space programs including Agile and the GLONASS series of navigation satellites. In December 2005, during the annual Indo-Russian summit in Moscow, the two states agreed on joint development of the GLONASS-K series, which will be launched by Indian launchers. ISRO also plans to launch payloads RISAT, ASTROSAT, OCEANSAT series, INSAT series, CARTOSAT series, and GSAT series over the next couple of years. The RLV-TD, a technology demonstrator of possible scramjet launch technology, will fly around 2008. ^[1] ISRO's most advanced earth observation satellite under development is CARTOSAT-3, which will have a resolution of 0.30 metre.^[12]

The ISRO decade plan includes the following launch schedule:

2006–2007 – Three GSLV launches (GSLV-D3, F2, F3). Launch of OCEANSAT-2, GSAT-4, INSAT-4D.
2007–2008 – Three PSLV launches (PSLV-C9, C10, C11), two GSLV launches (GSLV-F4, F5), and one GSLV-III launch (GSLV-III-D1). Launch of CHANDRAYAAN, ASTROSAT, RISAT-1, GSAT (MK III), INSAT-3D and INSAT-4E.
2006–2012 – Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS)

Crewed missions

Main article: Indian human spaceflight program

India sent its first cosmonaut, Rakesh Sharma, into space as part of the Soviet Intercosmos program aboard the Soyuz T-11 capsule on April 2, 1984.

The question of an independent future manned space programme was first substantially raised in November 2006 in the form of a proposal. It outlined a goal which would be to design, develop and launch an Indian manned spacecraft, a two-seat space capsule, which would be used to send an Indian into space by 2015. The vehicle would be launched by India’s successful Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk II).

The first step towards this goal was the 600-kg Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE), launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, and safely returned to earth 12 days later. This demonstrates India's capability to develop heat-resistant materials necessary for re-entry.

ISRO has submitted a project report for cabinet consideration with plans to launch a crewed mission in 2015. The projected budget is Rs. 12000 crores over a five-to-six year period.^[13]^[14]

Solar mission "Aditya"

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has conceptually developed a Sun mission called 'Aditya'. ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair announced that this mission was approved. "The success of Chandrayaan-1 has boosted the confidence of ISRO scientists to look beyond the moon" he added. ^[15]

Mapping the earth, Bhuvan

ISRO plans to map the earth and make the maps publicly available and thus will become a competition for Google Earth. The project is named Bhuvan.

Launch vehicles

Comparison of Indian carrier rockets. Left to right: SLV, ASLV, PSLV, GSLV, GSLV III

Sounding rockets

RH-75 – Retired 1968^[16]
RH-125 – Retired 1971^[16]
RH-200 – Active^[16]
RH-300 – Active^[16]
RH-300 Mk II – Retired 1998^[16]
RH-560 – Retired 1993^[16]

Former satellite launch vehicles

Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) – an all-solid four-stage satellite launch vehicle. The SLV can place 40 kg into low earth orbit. It was mainly used for the launching of experimental Rohini satellites, and was a technology bridge.
Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) – an all-solid five-stage satellite launch vehicle. The ASLV can place 150 kg into low earth orbit. It was mainly used for the launching of the Stretched Rohini Satellite Series (SROSS), and also served as a technology bridge.

Current satellite launch vehicles

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) – a four-stage rocket with liquid and solid stages. The PSLV can place 1600 kg into polar sun synchronous orbit and serves as a small-medium satellite launching workhorse for ISRO.
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark I/II (GSLV-I/II) – a three-stage rocket with solid, liquid and cryo stages. The GSLV can place 2200 kg into geostationary transfer orbit and serves as a medium lifter.

Planned

Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV-III) – a three-stage rocket with solid, liquid and cryo stages. The GSLV can place 4000-6000 kg into geostationary transfer orbit and will be a medium-heavy lifter.

Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) – a small remote-piloted scramjet vehicle called AVATAR. The RLV will place small satellites into low earth orbit and can be reused for at least 100 launches, reducing the cost of launching satellites.

ISRO Orbital Vehicle

Centres and facilities

ISRO operates three launch stations:

Shriharikota Rocket Launching Station (SRLS) / Satish Dhawan Space Center (SHAR), Andhra Pradesh
Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) / Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Kerala
Balasore Rocket Launching Station (BRLS), Orissa

The Shriharikota range is used for the launch of satellites and multi-stage rockets. The launch station has two launch pads including the newest Universal Launch Pad. The two launch pads allow the station to hold up to six launches per year. The other two launch facilities are capable of launching sounding rockets, and other small rockets that do not produce spent stages.

The following centres are also related to the Indian Space Research Organisation:

Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) – Bangalore
ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) – Bangalore
Raman Research Institute (RRI) – Bangalore
Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) – Nedumangad,Thiruvananthapuram
Antrix Corporation – Bangalore
Master Control Facility (MCF) – Hassan
Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) – Bangalore
Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) – Thiruvananthapuram
National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) – Hyderabad
ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) – Bangalore
Space Applications Centre (SAC) – Ahmedabad
INSAT Master Control Facility (IMCF) – Bhopal
ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) – Thiruvananthapuram
Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) – Ahmedabad
Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) – Chandigarh
National Atmospheric Radar Laboratory (NARL) – Tirupathi
Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS)
Aerospace Command of India (ACI)
Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR)
Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA)
Indian Department of Space (IDS)
Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC)
Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC)
Regional Remote Sensing Service Centres (RRSSC)
Development and Educational Communication Unit (DECU)

Financial

Historical budget

Year	Indian rupee	US dollar
2001		~505m
2004-05	~25bn
2005-06	31.48bn	~722m
2006-07	29.97bn	~800m
2007-08	38.60bn	~937m
2008-09	40.74bn	~1020m

Revenue

The government of India established Antrix Corporation as the commercial wing of ISRO in 1992. ISRO has been involved in selling launch services, remote sensing data and transponders through Antrix corporation. The exact revenue earned by Antrix corp. is not available to the public.