58 0 n 77 34 0 e 12.96667 n 77.56667 e 12.96667 ; 77.56667 indian space research organisation bh rat ya antarik a anusa dh n sa ga han isro logo acronym isro owner india established 15 august 1969 1969 08 15 1962 as incospar headquarters bangalore karnataka india primary spaceport satish dhawan space centre sriharikota andhra pradesh motto hindi iast m nav j ti k sev men antarik a praudyogik space technology in the service of humankind . administrator a. s. kiran kumar chairman budget 7 927 crore us 1.2 billion 2015 16 website www.isro.gov.in the indian space research organisation isro sro is the space agency of the indian government headquartered in the city of bangalore . its vision is to harness space technology for national development while pursuing space science research and planetary exploration . 1 formed in 1969 isro superseded the erstwhile indian national committee for space research incospar established in 1962 by the efforts of independent india s first prime minister jawaharlal nehru and his close aide and scientist vikram sarabhai . the establishment of isro thus institutionalised space activities in india . 2 it is managed by the department of space which reports to the prime minister of india . isro built india s first satellite aryabhata which was launched by the soviet union on 19 april 1975 . in 1980 rohini became the first satellite to be placed in orbit by an indian made launch vehicle slv 3 . isro subsequently developed two other rockets the polar satellite launch vehicle pslv for launching satellites into polar orbits and the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle gslv for placing satellites into geostationary orbits . these rockets have launched numerous communications satellites and earth observation satellites . satellite navigation systems like gagan and irnss have been deployed . in january 2014 isro successfully used an indigenous cryogenic engine in a gslv d5 launch of the gsat 14 . 3 4 isro sent one lunar orbiter chandrayaan 1 on 22 october 2008 and one mars orbiter mars orbiter mission which successfully entered mars orbit on 24 september 2014 making india the first nation to succeed on its first attempt and isro the fourth space agency in the world as well as the first space agency in asia to successfully reach mars orbit . 5 future plans include development of gslv mk iii for launch of heavier satellites ulv development of a reusable launch vehicle human spaceflight further lunar exploration interplanetary probes a solar spacecraft mission etc. 6 as of 24 june 2016 isro has launched 131 satellites using indigenously developed launch vehicles out of which 74 are foreign . also 29 indian satellites have been launched by foreign launch vehicles . 7 as of october 2015 isro has agreed to launch 23 foreign satellites of nine different nations including algeria canada germany indonesia japan singapore and the us . 8 on 18 june 2016 india successfully set a record with launch of 20 satellites in a single payload one being a satellite from google . 9 contents 1 formative years 2 goals and objectives 3 organisation structure and facilities 3.1 research facilities 3.2 test facilities 3.3 construction and launch facilities 3.4 tracking and control facilities 3.5 human resource development 3.6 commercial wing antrix corporation 3.7 other facilities 4 launch vehicle fleet 4.1 satellite launch vehicle slv 4.2 augmented satellite launch vehicle aslv 4.3 polar satellite launch vehicle pslv 4.4 geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle gslv 4.5 geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle mark iii gslv iii 5 satellite programmes 5.1 the insat series 5.2 the irs series 5.3 radar imaging satellites 5.4 other satellites 5.5 gagan satellite navigation system 5.6 irnss satellite navigation system 6 human spaceflight programme 6.1 technology demonstration 6.2 astronaut training and other facilities 6.3 development of crew vehicle 7 planetary sciences and astronomy 8 extraterrestrial exploration 8.1 first mission to the moon chandrayaan 1 8.2 mars orbiter mission mangalayaan 9 future projects 9.1 future launch vehicles 9.1.1 reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator rlv td 9.1.2 unified launch vehicle 9.2 extraterrestrial exploration 9.2.1 chandrayaan 2 9.2.2 venus exploration 9.2.3 solar exploration programme 9.3 space science missions 10 applications 10.1 telecommunication 10.2 resource management 10.3 military 10.4 academic 10.5 telemedicine 10.6 biodiversity information system 10.7 cartography 11 international co operation 11.1 foreign satellites launched 11.2 isro satellites launched by foreign agencies 12 controversies 12.1 s band spectrum scam 13 see also 14 citations 15 references 16 further reading 17 external links formative years edit vikram sarabhai first chairman of incospar which would later be called isro modern space research in india is most visibly traced to the 1920s when the scientist s. k. mitra conducted a series of experiments leading to the sounding of the ionosphere by application of ground based radio methods in calcutta . 10 later indian scientists like c.v. raman and meghnad saha contributed to scientific principles applicable in space sciences . 10 however it was the period after 1945 which saw important developments being made in coordinated space research in india . 10 organised space research in india was spearheaded by two scientists vikram sarabhai founder of the physical research laboratory at ahmedabad and homi bhabha who established the tata institute of fundamental research in 1945 . 10 initial experiments in space sciences included the study of cosmic radiation high altitude and airborne testing of instruments deep underground experimentation at the kolar mines one of the deepest mining sites in the world and studies of the upper atmosphere . 11 studies were carried out at research laboratories universities and independent locations . 11 12 in 1950 the department of atomic energy was founded with homi bhabha as its secretary . 12 the department provided funding for space research throughout india . 13 during this time tests continued on aspects of meteorology and the earth s magnetic field a topic which was being studied in india since the establishment of the observatory at colaba in 1823 . in 1954 the uttar pradesh state observatory was established at the foothills of the himalayas . 12 the rangpur observatory was set up in 1957 at osmania university hyderabad . space research was further encouraged by the technically inclined prime minister of india jawaharlal nehru . 13 in 1957 the soviet union successfully launched sputnik and opened up possibilities for the rest of the world to conduct a space launch . 13 the indian national committee for space research incospar was set up in 1962 by jawaharlal nehru india s first prime minister . 14 it had vikram sarabhai as its chairman . the first rocket launch into space from indian soil took place on 21 november 1963 under the leadership of project scientist praful bhavsar . incospar eventually grew into isro in 1969 . 14 goals and objectives edit the prime objective of isro is to develop space technology and its application to various national tasks . 1 the indian space programme was driven by the vision of vikram sarabhai considered the father of the indian space programme . 15 as he said in 1969 there are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation . to us there is no ambiguity of purpose . we do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space flight . but we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally and in the community of nations we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society . 1 the former indian president a. p. j. abdul kalam said many individuals with myopic vision questioned the relevance of space activities in a newly independent nation which was finding it difficult to feed its population . their vision was clear if indians were to play meaningful role in the community of nations they must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to their real life problems . they had no intention of using it as a means of displaying our might . 16 india s economic progress has made its space programme more visible and active as the country aims for greater self reliance in space technology . 17 in 2008 india launched as many as 11 satellites including nine from other countries and went on to become the first nation to launch 10 satellites on one rocket . 17 isro has successfully put into operation two major satellite systems indian national satellites insat for communication services and indian remote sensing irs satellites for management of natural resources . in july 2012 the former president a. p. j. abdul kalam said that research was being done by isro and drdo for developing cost reduction technologies for access to space . 18 organisation structure and facilities edit the structure of the department of space of the government of india isro is managed by the department of space dos of the government of india . dos itself falls under the authority of the prime minister and the space commission and manages the following agencies and institutes 19 indian space research organisation vikram sarabhai space centre vssc thiruvananthapuram . liquid propulsion systems centre lpsc thiruvananthapuram . satish dhawan space centre sdsc shar sriharikota . isro propulsion complex iprc mahendragiri . isro satellite centre isac bangalore . space applications centre sac ahmedabad . national remote sensing centre nrsc hyderabad . isro inertial systems unit iisu thiruvananthapuram . development and educational communication unit decu ahmedabad . master control facility mcf hassan karnataka . isro telemetry tracking and command network istrac bangalore . laboratory for electro optics systems leos bangalore . indian institute of remote sensing iirs dehradun . antrix corporation the marketing arm of isro bangalore . physical research laboratory prl ahmedabad . national atmospheric research laboratory narl gadanki andhra pradesh . north eastern space applications centre 20 ne sac umiam . semi conductor laboratory scl mohali . indian institute of space science and technology iist thiruvananthapuram india s space university . research facilities edit facility location description vikram sarabhai space centre thiruvananthapuram the largest isro base is also the main technical centre and the venue of development of the slv 3 aslv and pslv series . 21 the base supports india s thumba equatorial rocket launching station and the rohini sounding rocket programme . 21 this facility is also developing the gslv series . 21 liquid propulsion systems centre thiruvananthapuram and bangalore the lpsc handles design development testing and implementation of liquid propulsion control packages liquid stages and liquid engines for launch vehicles and satellites . 21 the testing of these systems is largely conducted at iprc at mahendragiri . 21 the lpsc bangalore also produces precision transducers . 22 physical research laboratory ahmedabad solar planetary physics infrared astronomy geo cosmo physics plasma physics astrophysics archaeology and hydrology are some of the branches of study at this institute . 21 an observatory at udaipur also falls under the control of this institution . 21 semi conductor laboratory chandigarh research & development in the field of semiconductor technology micro electromechanical systems and process technologies relating to semiconductor processing . national atmospheric research laboratory chittoor the narl carries out fundamental and applied research in atmospheric and space sciences . space applications centre ahmedabad the sac deals with the various aspects of practical use of space technology . 21 among the fields of research at the sac are geodesy satellite based telecommunications surveying remote sensing meteorology environment monitoring etc. 21 the sec additionally operates the delhi earth station . 23 north eastern space applications centre shillong providing developmental support to north east by undertaking specific application projects using remote sensing gis satellite communication and conducting space science research . test facilities edit facility location description isro propulsion complex mahendragiri formerly called lpsc mahendragiri was declared a separate centre . it handles testing and assembly of liquid propulsion control packages liquid engines and stages for launch