1962 ushered in the space era in India as the Atomic Energy Department set up the Indian National Committee for Space Research, and the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station or TERLS.

1969 saw the formation of ISRO or the Indian Space Research Organization, under the Department of Atomic Energy.

1971 another step forward was taken with the establishment of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

1975 was an important year. The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment was launch, and the first Indian-made satellite, Aryabhatta was successfully put into orbit.

1979 marked the success of Bhaskara-1, an Earth observation satellite, and the first experimental launch of SLV – 3.

1980 witnessed the second and successful experimental launch of SLV- 3 that placed Rohini satellite.

1981 was an eventful year with the first developmental launch of SLV – 3 that placed Rohini into orbit, the launch of APPLE, an experimental geostationary satellite, and the launch of Bhaskara – II.

1982 was the year of INSAT – 1A communication satellite was launched.

1983 saw the second developmental flight of SLV – 3, and the commissioning of the INSAT system with the launch of INSAT 1 B.

1984 was the year that every Indian’s heart swelled with pride as the first Indian cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma soared into space, and spent eight days on the Russian Space Station, SALYUT -7.

1987 was a year that ISRO faced a setback when the first developmental launch of Augmented SLV, the satellite SROSS-1 failed.

1988 saw another setback when the second developmental flight of ASLV with SROSS satellite also failed. However, the Indian Remote Sensing satellite IRS – 1A was launched through a Russian rocket.

1992 was a year of successes with the launch of ASLV that placed the SROSS-C satellite in orbit and the launch of INSAT – 2A which was followed by the 3 and 4 series.

1993 was a disappointing year with the failure of the first developmental flight of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle with IRS-1E.

1994 on the other hand, marked the success of the fourth developmental flight of ASLV with SROSS – C2.

1997  witnessed the first operational launch of PSLV – 4 carrying IRS – 1D.

1999 was the year that PSLV started carrying foreign payloads along with ISRO’s OCEANSAT.

2001 was a good year with the successful launch of the heavy rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle with GSAT – 1 satellite and the launch of PSLV with India’s technology experimental satellite and satellites from Belgium and Germany.

2003 GSAT – 2 on board GSLV and RESOURCESAT – 1 by PSLV were both launched successfully.

2004 was the year of that Edusat was put into orbit GSLV’s first operational flight.

2005 saw the commissioning of a second launch pad at Sriharikota as well as the launch of CARTOSAT – 1 and Hamsat by PSLV.

2006 was a disappointment as the second operational flight of GSLV with INSAT – 4C failed.

2007 was once again, a good year. CARTOSAT – 2 with space capsule recovery experiment and two foreign satellites were launched. The space capsule was successfully recovered, and the Italian satellite AGILE was put into orbit by PSLV, and the INSAT – 4CR was launched by GSLV.

2008 was a historic year. It witnessed the successful launch of the Israeli satellite Tecsar by PSLV, and India’s first path breaking Moon mission Chandrayaan – 1 lifted off to international acclaim.

2010 saw the failure of two GSLV missions. It also witnessed the launch of CARTOSAT – 2B, STUDSAT and three small foreign satellite by PSLV

2011 was a busy year on the space frontier. There was the launch of RESOURCESAT – 2, and two small satellite by PSLV, the launch of GSAT – 12, the launch of Megha Tropiques and three small satellites, also PSLV.

2012 On September 9th, ISRO scored a century when a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle put into orbit two foreign satellites – the French SPOT – 6 and the Japanese Proiteres. This marked the 100th space mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

2013 India’s first interplanetary probe, Mars Orbiter Spacecraft Mangalyaan launched on November 5, 2013, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.

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