Indian Space Research – Challenge and Response

Abstract

The world entered into a new space era when Sputnik-I was launched by the erstwhile USSR in 1957. Followed by this, the USA and many other European countries started their space missions. Five years later, India took the initiative along this line. Basically, India faced several challenges on its own. At the same time, the Nehru government was very much interested in encouraging science and technology, in general, and space research in particular. In this connection, the Indian National Committee for Space Research was established in 1962 under the leadership of Vikram Sarabhai. Subsequently, a rocket-launching station was established in Thumba, near Thiruvananthapuram. Moreover, the first sounding rocket was launched from Indian soil in 1963. Several concrete efforts were taken to improve the research. The Indian space programme reached its zenith in 2001 when the GSLV rocket was launched from Sriharikota. Meanwhile, this research met several failures as well. However, these failures paved the way for increasing the responsibilities of the organisations involved in space research and in achieving the target. This article makes an attempt to explain the challenges faced by the Indian space programme.