The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 107

The International News Weekly India
August 16, 2019 | Toronto 04
SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT FOR ISRO
From the Satellite Telecommunication
Experiments
Project (STEP) that
took the first televisions
to Indian villages much
before India officially had
TVs to real-time satellitebased
advisories being
sent to fishermen nowadays,
Indian Space Research
Organisation (Isro)
has led India’s development
from the adolescence
of Independence to present-day
advancements.
As the space agency
prepares for another
eventful year having successfully
launched its second
mission to Moon, it
has achieved another major
milestone. August 15,
India’s 73rd Independence
Day, also marks the golden
jubilee year for Isro, which
was founded on this day in
1969. The year also marks
the centenary year of Vikram
Sarabhai, the father
of the Indian space programme.
When India’s space
programme was first conceived,
it had a clear priority
that space science
must first help its citizens,
which is why the focus
was on earth observation
and communication. Vikram
Sarabhai had once
famously said, “We have
no fantasies of landing
people on Moon or studying
planets.” This was not
lack of ambition as much
as it was a result of a different
vision: Make India
self-reliant using space
technology.
Today, space agency
chairman K Sivan says:
“Sarabhai’s vision that
space science and technology
must be used for
the benefit of the common
man has been the guiding
force for Isro. And, all our
programmes were centred
around this vision, which
led to several applications.”
Another senior scientist,
while claiming that
Isro is still committed to
meeting the growing demands
of the common
man, whether it is in the
form of communication
satellite, remote sensing or
earth observation satellite,
said that huge strides have
been made by the space
agency in the last 50 years.
Isro, which was once
depended heavily on foreign
help to build and
launch its satellites, today
helps other countries
launch their satellites. In
fact, on February 15, 2017,
the Indian agency had
launched 104 satellites,
mostly foreign, in one go,
making a world record
that still stands.
In the past three years,
Isro has launched 239 commercial
satellites helping
Isro’s commercial arm,
Antrix Corporation, garner
Rs 6,289 crore revenue.
Today, it is able to rub
shoulders with the best in
the business. One example
is Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture
Radar (Nisar) project,
in which, Isro is an
equal partner with the US
space agency and not an
agency seeking Big Brother’s
help.
It is also planning a
joint mission with Japan
to explore Moon and another
joint project with
Nasa for Mars exploration.