Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

India's national space agency, formed on 15 August 1969. It builds and launches India's satellites and rockets and runs its space science missions.

Purpose

ISRO carries out India's space programme for the Department of Space. Its work covers rockets, satellites for communication, weather, navigation and Earth observation, and science missions to the Moon, Mars and the Sun.

Members

ISRO works through specialised centres:

  • VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram: rockets
  • URSC, Bengaluru: satellites
  • SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota: launches
  • LPSC: liquid and cryogenic propulsion
  • SAC, Ahmedabad: payloads and applications
  • NRSC, Hyderabad: satellite data
  • ISTRAC, Bengaluru: tracking and mission operations
  • MCF, Hassan and Bhopal: geostationary satellite control

Timeline

  • 21 November 1963: first rocket launched in India, from Thumba
  • 15 August 1969: ISRO formed, under the Department of Atomic Energy
  • 1 June 1972: ISRO brought under the new Department of Space
  • 19 April 1975: Aryabhata, India's first satellite, launched
  • 18 July 1980: first successful SLV-3 launch, from Sriharikota
  • 22 October 2008: Chandrayaan-1 launched
  • 29 January 2025: 100th launch from Sriharikota

Status

V. Narayanan took charge as ISRO Chairman and Secretary of the Department of Space on 13 January 2025. ISRO's own count lists 137 spacecraft missions and 107 launch missions, and 434 foreign satellites from 34 countries launched on its rockets.

Sources

  1. Frequently asked questions — ISRO
  2. Profile: genesis of VSSC — VSSC
  3. Missions accomplished — ISRO
  4. Spacecraft missions — ISRO
  5. ISRO's 100th launch marks a quantum leap in India's space journey — Press Information Bureau
  6. MCF home page — MCF