ISRO: Days of Struggle

Once India had created ISRO, and showed strong intentions of reaching space, work was started in full-swing. But the conditions were not favorable for a wannabe, big-shot ISRO. No-one believed they would succeed, yet here we are, 53 years later and ISRO is a world-leader in Aerospace. How did these revolutionaries survive in a world that was out to cripple them? Let’s find out!

Note: ISRO’s philosophy and policy was quite different at the time than it is today. ISRO believed that any satellites that were put into orbit using the common man’s money must provide for him. And since ISRO was mostly funded by taxes in the current setting, this resulted in a lot of demand for launching weather, communications and utility satellites. This is the reason the focus of ISRO was more on the aforementioned satellites than military, surveillance, or exploration satellites.

The PSLV soars off into the beautiful morning sky! Image courtesy of ISRO

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The Age of the Aryabhata satellite was difficult. The world, especially the USA was against “minor powers” such as India possessing missile technology. This led India to make a collaboration with the Russians. The deal was made under the “Interkosmos” program, which essentially stated that Russia would be willing to help friendly states launch satellites. With the launching problems out of the way, India started focusing on the Aryabhata itself. It was to be a 26-sided polyhedron, all its side covered in solar panels. The satellite was launched successfully on 19 April, 1975 from Kapustin Yar, in a Russian Kosmos-3M rocket. The Aryabhata Mission instilled much-needed hope in the Indian Forefathers of Aerospace. India was now capable of making operational satellites!

A Computer Render of the Aryabhatta Satellite.

India did not stop there though, no, not at all. India’s aspirations were much more than only building a satellite. They wanted to launch it themselves. It was around this time that India got another round of much-needed revolutionaries. This time it was in the form of exceptional Rocket Engine Designers, namely A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Nambi Narayanan. India started designing liquid fuel engines, which were essential for sending heavy satellites (which is pretty much all of them after a certain point) into orbit. Eventually the SLV (Satellite Launch Vehicle) was developed using both solid and liquid fueled engines.

In 1980 and 1981, the stage was set for India’s next feat: Launching a satellite into orbit without outside support. The Rohini Mission was crafted for the same. The Rohini satellite itself was a primarily experimental satellite, which was a precursor to the communications satellites later launched by ISRO. It was launched abroad the SLV which I mentioned earlier. It. Was. A. Massive. Success. The success of the Rohini Mission rattled the world and proved that India has the Passion, Grit and Intelligence to make its “Optimistic” engineering philosophy work.

The SLV lifts off, taking the Rohini Satellite with it!

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Brought to you by Vasurva Wadajkar and Aerospace With Vasurva

In the end, India managed to cement its position as a competitor in the International Space Industry. The west was now forced to take India seriously. But this was just the start. India had plenty more in the bag. After surviving through the rocky initial phase India was ready to flex its new muscles. The Days of Vision has just started! Read the following entry in this blog series to continue our journey through ISRO’s history! Adios!