| The Indian Space Program may be
divided in two major categories. One is the
Satellite Program and the another is the Launcher
Program. The
Satellite program involves putting the satellites
in the space and managing the same. The
satellites may be lifted by Indian made launchers
or it may involve the commercial launch vehicles.
The Satellites are also of two different
categories, communication satellites and remote
sensing satellites.
The launcher
program involves the design, fabrication and
launching of launch vehicles. India has also
developed a series of launch vehicles, after a
long research and development through the
painstacking ways of successes and failures.
A brief chronology
of the events are presented below:
| Event |
Date |
Description
and Status |
| Aryabhata |
19 April
1975 |
Launched by
SL-8 rocket, made by Russia, from
Kapustin Yar. Weight was 360 kg and the
Perigee/Apogee was 563 x 619 km. |
| Bhaskara - 1 |
7 June, 1979 |
Launched by SL-8 rocket,
made by Russia, from Kapustin Yar. Weight
was 360 kg and the
Perigee/Apogee was 563 x 619 km.
Telemetry was recieved until reentry on
17th Feb, 1989. |
| Rohini-1A |
10 August,
1979 |
Launching tried by SLV-3
rocket, made by India, from Shriharikota.
Rocket failed. |
| Rohini-1B |
18 July, 1980 |
Launched by SLV-3 rocket, made by
India, from Shriharikota. Weight was 35
kg and the Perigee/Apogee was 305x
919 km. India's first succesful
launch.Reentred on May 20, 1981 |
| APPLE |
19 June, 1981 |
APPLE was launched by Ariane rocket,
made by France and launched from Kouru in
French Guyana. Weight was 670 kg and it
is India's first Geo Stationary rocket.
Deactivated on September, 1983. |
| Bhaskara-2 |
20 Nov, 1981 |
Launched by SL-8 rocket, made by
Russia, from Kapustin Yar. Weight was
444kg and the Perigee/Apogee was 541
x 557km. Telemetry was recieved until
reentry on 30th Nov, 1991. |
| INSAT-1A |
10 April, 1982 |
Launched by Delta rocket, made by
USA, from Canaveral. Weight was 1152 kg
Abandoned on 4 Sept, 1982. |
| Rohini-3 |
17 April, 1983 |
Launched by Indian launcher, SLV-3,
from Shriharikota. Weight 41.5 kg and
orbit 371X861 km. Reentered its orbit on
19 April, 1990. |
| INSAT-1B |
30 August, 1983 |
Launched by STS-8, made by USA and
from Canaveral. Weight was 1152 kg. It
worked till 17 July, 1990 and then was
kept stand-by. Removed from geo in
August, 1993. |
| SROSS-1 |
24 March, 1987 |
Launched by ASLV rocket, by India.
however, it failed due to rocket failure. |
| IRS-1A |
17 March, 1988 |
Launched by SL-3 rocket, by Russia
from Tyuratam. weight 950 kg. It is
India's first remote sensing satellite. |
| SROSS-2 |
13 July, 1988 |
Launched by ASLV rocket, by India.
however, it failed due to second ASLV
rocket failure. |
| INSAT-1C |
21 July, 1988 |
INSAT-1C was launched by Ariane
rocket, made by France and launched from
Kouru in French Guyana. Weight was 700
kg. Abandoned on 22 November, 1989. |
| INSAT-1D |
12 June, 1990 |
Launched by Delta rocket, made by
USA, from Canaveral. Weight was 1152 kg
The last in first generation INSAT. |
| IRS-1B |
29 August, 1991 |
Launched by SLV-3, Indian rocket.
Identical to IRS-1A |
| SROSS-C3 |
20 May, 1992 |
Launched by Indian rocket ASLV-D3
from Sriharikota. 106 kg. Reentered on 14
July, 1992 |
| INSAT-2A |
9 July, 1992 |
INSAT-2A was launched by Ariane-4
rocket, made by France and launched from
Kouru in French Guyana. Weight was 1906
kg. |
| INSAT-2B |
22 July, 1993 |
INSAT-2B was launched by Ariane
rocket, made by France and launched from
Kouru in French Guyana.Transponder failed
on April, 1999. |
| IRS-1E |
20 Sept, 1993 |
Launched by Indian made PSLV-D1 from
Sriharikota. Weight 106 kg. However, it
could not attain orbit. |
| SROSS-C2 |
4 May, 1994 |
Launched by Indian made PSLV-D2 from
Sriharikota.Weight 113 kg. |
| IRS-P2 |
15 October, 1994 |
Launched by Indian made PSLV-D2 from
Sriharikota. |
| INSAT-2C |
6 December, 1995 |
INSAT-2C was launched by Ariane 4
rocket, made by France and launched from
Kouru in French Guyana. |
| IRS-1C |
28 December, 1995 |
Launched by Russian rocket Molniya-M
from Baikanour in Sun-synchronous orbit. |
| IRS-P3 |
21 March, 1996 |
Launched by Indian rocket PSLV-D3
from Sriharikota. |
| INSAT-2D |
4 June, 1997 |
Launched by French rocket, Ariane-4,
from Kourou. It was abandoned on Oct 1997
after a major power failure. |
| IRS-1D |
September, 1997 |
Launched by Indian rocket PSLV-C1.
However, it was placed in elliptical
orbit instead of circular orbit due to
technical snag. It was partly corrected. |
| INSAT-2E |
3 April, 1999 |
Launched by French rocket, Ariane-4,
from Kourou. Last second generation
INSAT. |
| IRS-P4 |
26 May, 1999 |
Launched by Indian rocket, PSLV-C2.
Also known as Oceansat-1 |
| INSAT-3B |
22 March, 2000 |
Launched by French rocket, Ariane-5,
from Kourou. |
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