ISRO’s Remarkable Space Journey – Satellites, Launch Vehicles & Planetary Explorations

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why in News?
• ISRO’s Satellite Programmes
• ISRO’s Launch Vehicle Programmes
• ISRO’s Planetary Explorations

 

Why in News?

• The Chandrayaan-3 lander, named Vikram, has made a successful soft landing on the surface of the Moon, making India the first country to reach close to the lunar south pole.
• India has also become the fourth nation in history to land on the lunar surface.

 

 

ISRO’s Satellite Programmes:

• Aryabhata Satellite –
  • The launch of the Aryabhata satellite on April 19, 1975, marked India’s entry into the space era.
  • Built to conduct experiments in X-ray astronomy, aeronomics, and solar physics, the 360 kg spacecraft was entirely designed and fabricated by ISRO.
  • India didn’t have its own launch vehicle at the time, and the Soviet Union had in 1971 offered to assist in launching India’s first satellite and later agreed to do so free of cost.
  • The satellite worked well for about five days in space but then lost power, resulting in a loss of communication.
• Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellite System –
  • Soon after Aryabhata, two experimental remote-sensing satellites went into Space: Bhaskar-1 in 1979 and Bhaskar-2 in 1981.
  • These spacecrafts laid the foundations for the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellite system — a series of Earth Observation spacecraft built by ISRO.
  • In the following decades, a number of IRS satellites were launched and today, India has one of the largest constellations of remote sensing satellites in operation.
• Indian National Satellite System (INSAT) –
  • In 1981, another Indian spacecraft was launched — an experimental communication satellite called Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment (APPLE).
  • APPLE helped inspire the Indian National Satellite System (INSAT), a series of multipurpose geostationary satellites that aimed to meet the telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology, and search and rescue needs of India.
  • Although the first few INSATs were built by Ford Aerospace in the US, starting with the INSAT-2 series, all satellites of the system have been indigenously made.
  • More recently, a notable satellite mission has been the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) or NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation).

 

ISRO’s Launch Vehicle Programmes:

• Indian Space Research Organisation over the years has successfully realized five generations of launch vehicles viz. SLV-3, ASLV, PSLV, GSLV and GSLV MkIII to cater to national developmental needs.
• This has enabled ISRO develop and master critical technologies related to solid, liquid and cryogenic propulsion systems in addition to Navigation, Guidance, Control and Mission Design aspects of launch vehicles.
• Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3)
  • SLV-3 was successfully launched in 1980.
  • It was India's first experimental satellite launch vehicle.
  • It was an all solid, four stage vehicle weighing 17 tonnes with a height of 22m and capable of placing 40 kg class payloads in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
• Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) –
  • The first developmental flight of ALSV took place in 1987.
  • It was configured as a five stage, all-solid propellant vehicle, with a mission of orbiting 150 kg class satellites into 400 km circular orbits.
• Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) –
  • Its first successful launch took place in October 1994.
  • It is the first Indian launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages.
  • It can take up to 1,750 kg of payload to Sun-Synchronous Polar Orbits of 600 km altitude.
  • During 1994-2017 period, the vehicle had launched 48 Indian satellites and 209 satellites for customers from abroad.
  • Besides, the vehicle successfully launched two spacecraft – Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013 – that later travelled to Moon and Mars respectively.
• Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) –
  • This fourth generation launch vehicle is a three-stage vehicle with four liquid strap-ons.
  • It has been designed for launching communication satellites.
  • ISRO first launched GSLV on April 18, 2001 and has made 13 launches since then.
• Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MkIII (GSLV-MkIII) –
  • GSLV MkIII is configured as a three-stage vehicle with two solid strap-on motors, one liquid core stage and a high thrust cryogenic upper stage.
  • The Project was approved in 2002, with a mandate of achieving the capability to launch 4 ton class satellite to Geo-Synchronous orbit.

 

ISRO’s Planetary Explorations:

• Chandrayaan-1 –
  • In the first four decades since its inception, ISRO largely focused on space missions that benefited India in some way or the other.
  • However, with the approval of the Chandrayaan-1 (2008), an Orbiter mission, ISRO began preparations to venture into planetary explorations.
  • Six days after the launch, the Moon Impact Probe, which had the Indian colours on its sides, was made to crash land on the lunar surface — to leave India’s mark on the Moon.
  • With this, ISRO became the fifth country to reach the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-1’s orbiter also detected evidence of water on the Moon.
• Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) –
  • The next milestone for ISRO came in 2013, with the launch of Mangalyaan — the space agency’s first interplanetary mission.
  • ISRO was the only fourth agency to reach the Mars orbit after Russia’s Roscosmos, USA’s NASA, and the European Union’s ESA.
• Chandrayaan-2 –
  • Chandrayaan-2 began its journey to the Moon in 2019.
  • Its lander, called Vikram, was scheduled to make a soft-landing on the lunar surface but minutes before the scheduled touchdown, ISRO lost contact with the spacecraft.
  • Vikram failed to reduce its velocity to an optimal level to ensure a soft-landing, and crashed into the lunar surface.
• Chandrayaan-3 –
  • Chandrayaan-3, launched on July 14, 2023, has successfully made a soft landing on the surface of the Moon, making India the first country to reach close to the lunar south pole.

 

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Q1) What is the difference between Orbiter and Rover?

Rover: Is a vehicle that moves around in the planet or astronomical object. Lander: A space craft that lands softly and then stays there at rest and does all other functions which it has to do. Orbiter: Orbits plants or astronomical objects.

 

Q2) What is Geostationary Orbit?

A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit, is a circular geosynchronous orbit 35,786 km in altitude above Earth's equator, 42,164 km in radius from Earth's centre, and following the direction of Earth's rotation.

 

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Source: As Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon, the story of ISRO’s remarkable space voyage