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ISRO and India's Space History
2.1 Timeline of India's Space Journey
| Year |
Milestone |
| 21 Nov 1963 |
India's first rocket launched from Thumba (TERLS), Kerala — Nike-Apache sounding rocket carrying sodium vapour payload |
| 19 Apr 1975 |
Aryabhata — India's first satellite, launched by Soviet Soyuz rocket from Kapustin Yar (named after ancient Indian mathematician) |
| 07 Jun 1979 |
Bhaskara-I — India's first remote sensing satellite |
| 18 Jul 1980 |
Rohini (RS-1) — first satellite placed in orbit by India's own launch vehicle (SLV-3); Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam led the SLV-3 team |
| 1983 |
INSAT-1B — India's first operational multipurpose satellite (communication + meteorology) |
| 14 Jan 1992 |
ASLV (Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle) — 4th flight successfully placed SROSS-C in orbit |
| 20 Sep 1993 |
PSLV-D1 first flight (unsuccessful); PSLV-D2 (Oct 1994) — first successful PSLV |
| 22 Oct 2008 |
Chandrayaan-1 — India's first Moon mission; discovered evidence of water molecules on lunar surface (2009) |
| 05 Nov 2013 |
Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) launched |
| 24 Sep 2014 |
Mangalyaan enters Mars orbit — India's historic achievement |
| 5 Jun 2017 |
GSLV-Mk III D1 first successful flight with heavy satellite GSAT-19 |
| 22 Jul 2019 |
Chandrayaan-2 launched (Vikram lander crash-landed September 2019) |
| 14 Jul 2023 |
Chandrayaan-3 launched by LVM3 |
| 23 Aug 2023 |
Chandrayaan-3 soft landing at lunar south pole — historic |
| 02 Sep 2023 |
Aditya-L1 launched by PSLV-C57 |
| 06 Jan 2024 |
Aditya-L1 arrives at L1 orbit |
| Oct 2023 |
Gaganyaan TV-D1 test abort crew escape system successfully |
2.2 Key ISRO Centres and Their Roles
| Centre |
Location |
Role |
| VSSC (Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre) |
Thiruvananthapuram |
Design and development of launch vehicles |
| SDSC-SHAR (Satish Dhawan Space Centre) |
Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh |
Launch pad (LP1 and LP2); primary launch facility |
| SAC (Space Applications Centre) |
Ahmedabad |
Development of satellite payloads and applications |
| ISAC (ISRO Satellite Centre, now U.R. Rao Satellite Centre) |
Bengaluru |
Satellite design, integration, testing |
| LPSC (Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre) |
Thiruvananthapuram / Bangalore |
Liquid propulsion systems for GSLV/LVM3 |
| NARL (National Atmospheric Research Laboratory) |
Gadanki, AP |
Atmospheric research |
| IIRS (Indian Institute of Remote Sensing) |
Dehradun |
Remote sensing training and applications |
