On 13th November, ISRO successfully launched their heaviest rocket yet–Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III or GSLV Mk-III or famously called “Baahubali”. It is capable of launching satellites weighing up to 4 tonnes. The launch is an important one for ISRO as it will be used for Chandrayaan II and manned space mission Ganganyaan.
ISRO has been one of the pioneers in India’s development and put India on the world map of space missions. Over the years, it bagged achievements no other country has ever done.
Here are some of the most wonderful things ISRO has done in its 49 years of existence.
1. Early this year marked the launch of ISRO’s 100th satellite, the PSLV-C40.
There were 30 other satellites along with the PSLV-C40.
2. It successfully launched 3 communication satellites in 2017 within a span of 2 months.
There are at present a total of 17 communication satellites in space.
3. Doing the unheard of, ISRO pioneered the launch of 104 satellites in a single mission.
The launch took place on February 15th last year. The second highest is by Russia, 37 satellites.
4. The successful launch of GSLV MkIII-D1 marked the launch of the heaviest launch vehicle till date by ISRO.
It has an Indian made crew capsule which can carry up to three astronauts to space. India will become one of the few nations to be able to take humans to space.
5. ISRO gave India, its own satellite navigation system, IRNSS.
ISRO successfully launched ‘NavIC‘, India’s navigation system that is supposed to be more accurate than GPS. This makes India one of the five countries to have its own navigation system in place.
6. In 2016, ISRO had launched 20 satellites in a single mission which was the highest so far by India.
7. ISRO took a step towards building a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) by successfully experimenting with a prototype RLV-TD.
It was built at a very low cost of 95 crores and the final product will help reduce costs in a major way.
8. India became the first country to reach Mars in its first attempt, and the mission was the least expensive one in the world.
Mangalyaan or MOM made India, one of the only four countries to have reached Mars. ISRO’s mission was 10 times less expensive than the same mission undertaken by the US previously.
9. ISRO’s mission to the moon – Chandrayaan, put it in the club of elite nations.
In October 2008, ISRO made its first mission to the moon, and it was one of the only six space organisations to attempt this.
10. In 1983, ISRO launched INSAT, the largest domestic communication system in Asia-Pacific region.
Constituting 9 working satellites presently, INSAT is a series of multi-purpose geostationary satellites.
11. Established in 1969, ISRO launched its first satellite, Aryabhatta, just 6 years later, in 1975.
Aryabhatta marked the beginning of India’s journey into space and the spacecraft was built entirely inside the country.
We hope that ISRO keeps going from glory to glory.