By Dr AK Srivastava
The UN General Assembly on 6 December 1999 declared 4 to 10 October as World Space Week every year to commemorate and acknowledge the achievements of Space Scientists. The first space satellite, “SPUTNIK”, was launched on 4 October 1957 and the UNO had passed a declaration that the world would use space research for peaceful purposes in the interest of mankind on 10 October 1967. Hence, it was decided to observe this week as World Space Week. The main intent of such an initiative is to promote space research related activities and inspire young learners to explore more possibilities of using this for the benefit of humanity. It is aimed that space scientists of different nationals will foster international cooperation in new research and projects related to space technology for the development and prosperity of the world.
The World Space Week Association Board of Directors and UNO Office of Outer Space Affairs decides on a theme for every year and focus their efforts, planning and research to achieve desired results in this area in the interest of humankind. This year’s theme is “Space & Climate Change”. Several workshops, seminars and lectures are being organised all over the world on this topic and scientists will cooperate and coordinate with one another on this theme.
In the last seventy years, the world has witnessed tremendous progress in the field of space technology. Initially, only developed nations like the USA and USSR ventured into this field but slowly many nations decided to invest their time and resources in this area.
After Independence, the financial conditions of India were not very encouraging and most of the politicians and industrialists were not in favour of investing money, time and energy of the country in space research. They felt that many other projects were a priority to make lives comfortable. Prominent and visionary scientists Dr Vikram Sarabhai and Dr Homi J Bhabha persuaded Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru to venture into space research and technology. They felt that space technology could steer that nation on the path to success and achievements. Both of them were students of the great legendary scientist CV Raman.
Dr Vikram Sarabhai and Dr Homi J Bhabha had no intention of competing with developed nations in this area. But they wished to initiate space research and technology for welfare programmes in diverse fields. PM Nehru could appreciate the vision and motivation of these scientists. He agreed to initiate a space research programme in the country.
Dr Vikram Sarabhai commented, “We do not have the fantasy of competing with economically advanced nations. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society”.
Consequently, the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established in 1962 at Thumba, near Tiruvanathapuram under the supervision of the Department of Atomic Energy.
Unfortunately, India had to face two wars – one with China and the other with Pakistan. This had an adverse impact on the socio-cultural, economic and political scenario of the country. Many schemes were defeated and dropped due to economic constraints. But Dr Vikram Sarabhai and Dr Homi J Bhabha were resolved to venture into space research for several reasons, primarily to defend the nation against international aggression. Hence, INCOSPAR was converted into ISRO in 1969. In 1972, the Department of Space was created with several ambitious schemes, and ISRO became a main contributor to all these ventures.
In 1975-76, the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment was conducted successfully. It was certainly a great achievement and now ISRO has become a firmly established organisation with focused missions and aims. ISRO concentrates its research primarily on these areas: Designing and developing satellites and related technology with the following aims:
- A) To promote research in the field of communication.
- B) To promote research in navigation, meteorology, and space research.
- C) To help observe the movements of the earth by remote sensing.
In other words, the aim is to focus on developing communication programmes for telecommunications and television broadcasting. It also aims to develop research-based programmes for remote sensing to study the movements of the earth. Finally, it targets space science and planetary exploration.
It is a matter of pride that ISRO has been very successful in its missions. Today it is the sixth largest space agency in the world. It has done tremendous work, achieving numerous milestones in making communication and remote sensing satellites. It is difficult to detail all satellites, but the most outstanding ones are mentioned below. Dr Vikram Sarabhai, Dr Bhabha and Dr APJ Kalam and hundreds of scientists have dedicated their lives for the success of this organisation.
- Aryabhata: India launched its first satellite in 1975 from Kapustin Yar, a Soviet rocket launch and development site. It was built by ISRO and named after the great Indian astronomer Aryabhata. It was really an iconic achievement of our country, and its image was printed on the reverse side of Indian currency in order to celebrate this success.
- SLV-3: The satellite Launch Vehicle-3 was a four-stage vehicle launched on July 18, 1980, and it could carry a 40-kilogram payload in low earth orbit. It put Rohini in orbit and made India the sixth member of an exclusive club of space-faring nations. Rohini was a series of four experimental satellites, and its grand success encouraged new projects, namely the Advanced Satellite Vehicle, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, and the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle.
- PSLV: It is India’s third-generation launch vehicle equipped with liquid stages. It has a history of launching a number of successful satellites from 1994 to 2007, including
4. INSAT: It is a network of satellites facilitating broadcasting and communication across South Asia. It has made a tremendous contribution to our nation’s telecommunications, broadcasting, and meteorological sectors. - Chandrayaan-1: It was launched by ISRO in 2008. It was our nation’s first moon mission and consisted of a lunar orbiter and an impactor. The first unmanned satellite had many instruments from various nations, and it covered over 3,400 orbits around the moon.
Chandrayaan II was launched in 2019. It was a highly complex mission which comprised an Orbiter, Lander and Rover to explore the unexplored South Pole of the moon.
Chandrayaan III was launched on 14 July 2023. The primary objective of Chandrayaan-3 mission was to demonstrate soft landing near the lunar south polar region and perform experiments using the instruments on Vikrama and Pragyaan. The spacecraft was launched on 14 July 2023 on-board LVM3-M4 vehicle from SDSC, SHAR. It was a great success and enhanced the reputation of ISRO in the world.
- The Mars Orbiter Mission: After Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency, India became the fourth agency to reach Mars orbit in 2014. It was India’s first interplanetary mission, which was accomplished on its maiden attempt. The spacecraft named Mangalyaan took about nine months to reach Mars orbit.
- GSLV: ISRO introduced the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle in 2014. It is used to launch satellites and other space objects into geosynchronous transfer orbits. It is a stage-three vehicle with the capability to put a heavier payload in orbit than the PSLV.
8. Aditya-L1 is a satellite dedicated to the comprehensive study of the Sun. It was launched on 1 September 2023. It has 7 distinct payloads developed, all developed indigenously. Five by ISRO and two by Indian academic institutes in collaboration with ISRO.
Aditya in Sanskrit means the sun. L1 here refers to Lagrange Point 1 of the Sun-Earth system. For common understanding, L1 is a location in space where the gravitational forces of two celestial bodies, such as the Sun and Earth, are in equilibrium. This allows an object placed there to remain relatively stable with respect to both celestial bodies.
- Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian cosmonaut. He was an Indian Air Force pilot accompanying the Soviet Interkosmos space programme.
ISRO has helped the country on many fronts. For example, it helps farmers predict Weather conditions. Ours is an agriculture-based nation, and ISRO guides farmers to produce better crops. Similarly, it protects the nation from enemies by guarding the space of the nation. No plane can dare enter the airspace of our nation without permission from the defence forces. In the fields of communication and broadcasting networks, it has done wonders. Numerous problems bothering the nation are sorted out by weather forecasts. It has improved India’s image in the international scientific arena, and the world has appreciated India’s ventures. So far, it has launched almost 150 satellites. We hope that its future programmes will lead the country into a new world of glory and grandeur.
“When I am dead, do not declare a holiday; instead, work a day extra,” Kalam
said. We should always remember his contribution to developing scientific temperament in India.
(The author is Principal, DAV Inter College Dehradun)
