India: Now And Then – Space Technology

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*Humble Beginnings*

The iconic image of two Indian scientists carrying rocket on a cycle has come to define the humble beginning that our country made for our voyage into space. It was back in 1963, when we were to launch our first rocket from Thumba Equatorial Launching Station in Thiruvanathapuram.

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The station had a single launch pad in the midst of coconut plantations. A local Catholic Church served as the main office. The bishop’s house was converted into a workshop. A cattle shed became the laboratory in which young Indian scientists like Abdul Kalam worked and the rocket was transported to lift-off pad ON A BICYCLE.

The second rocket, which was launched sometime later, was a little bigger and was transported in a bullock cart for the lift-off.

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We indeed have come a long way.

Today India can boast of its presence in the space, thanks to successful missions such as the Mars Orbiter Mission (2013) which put India on the universal map. We proudly became the first Asian nation to reach Mars’ orbit, and the first nation to do so on its first attempt. And allow us to remind you, the Mangalyaan mission was the least-expensive Mars mission, carried out in a budget less than that of an American sci-fi movie.

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Just a few weeks ago, on July 10 to be precise, we helped the U.K. launch 5 of their satellites successfully in the heaviest ever commercial mission undertaken by our very own space research organisation ISRO. Till date, as many as 41 foreign satellites have been launched by ISRO’s launch vehicles.

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With an interesting array of future projects such as development of a launch vehicle for heavier satellites, development of a reusable launch vehicle, human spaceflight, interplanetary probes, a solar spacecraft mission and many more, we believe that our journey into the space has just begun.
 
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