Rocketing forward
India’s journey from Sounding Rockets to the stars
Imagine a time when India was just finding its footing as a young nation, grappling with immense challenges yet daring to dream beyond the skies. In a small coastal village called Thumba, against all odds, a handful of visionary scientists launched a tiny sounding rocket into the unknown, sparking a journey that would one day make India a formidable player in space exploration.
Why Thumba though? Before we move forward, it's worth sharing the story of why Thumba was chosen and the extraordinary sacrifice made by the local community to make it possible.
In the early 1960s, when India was seeking a site for its first rocket launch station, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and his team identified Thumba, a small fishing village in Kerala, near the magnetic equator, as the ideal location. The land needed, however, belonged to the local community, including the St. Mary Magdalene Church and the surrounding areas vital to the fishermen's livelihoods. When Dr. Sarabhai approached Bishop Rev. Peter Bernard Pereira, the bishop agreed to help but requested that Sarabhai present his vision to the church congregation. After a Sunday mass, Sarabhai explained the importance of the space program for India’s future. In a remarkable gesture of support, the bishop and the villagers agreed to donate their church, land, and homes for the national cause. The church became the first office and laboratory of what would later evolve into ISRO, symbolizing a unique collaboration between faith, science, and community, and laying the groundwork for India’s ascent as a spacefaring nation.
Today, as we marvel at the remarkable achievements of ISRO, it is essential to remember that none of this would have been possible without the audacious vision of early pioneers like Homi J. Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. Inspired by their legacy, the stories shared in Mission ISRO with Harsha Bhogle, and my own early memories of watching those first rockets soar, join me in retracing this extraordinary journey, one milestone at a time, that has defined India's path to the stars and beyond.
1962 - INCOSPAR founded: India’s space program has its roots in the 1960s (1962 to be specific) with the setting up of INCOSPAR (The Indian National Committee for Space Research) with Vikram Sarabhai as one of the founding members.
1963 - First Sounding Rocket launched: India's first sounding rocket was launched on November 21, 1963, at Thumba. At a time when India barely had resources to feed its people and was just a teenager in its journey as an independent country in the modern era, how did the founding fathers of India’s space program manage to pull this off and signal the start of India’s Space Program? The setting up and launch of the rocket, and the facility itself, deserves an entire article (or a book) in itself. It was thanks to the network, standing and personal connections that Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai had in the scientific community. And their ability to think out of the box to leverage the geographic location of the launch site (Thumba) - not just for Indian rockets but for the international community. A stroke of luck and genius indeed.
1969 - ISRO formed: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was officially formed, replacing INCOSPAR - with Dr. Vikram Sarabhai playing a crucial role in its establishment.
1975 - Aryabhata launched: Marking a significant milestone in India’s space journey, Aryabhata, India’s first indigenously built satellite, was launched on April 19, 1975. The satellite was named after the ancient Indian mathematician and astronomer.
1975 - 76: Space exploration for peaceful uses and social development: Aligned with Vikram Sarabhai’s vision of using space for peaceful and educational purposes, India launched the SITE (Satellite Instructional Television Experiment) program with NASA from 1975 to 1976, one of the largest social experiments of its time. It reached over 2,400 villages in six Indian states (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan) to deliver educational content and assess the impact of television in rural areas. SITE gained global recognition for demonstrating the potential of satellite technology for social development. Despite resistance and competition, India secured NASA's participation, thanks in large parts to Sarabhai’s influence and connections.
The late 70s (and the mid 90s): Consistent with the spirit of scientific inquiry and application, India launched two Earth Observation Satellites (EOS), known as the Bhaskara satellites. These satellites played a crucial role in advancing India's remote sensing capabilities.
In fact, such were the challenges and high standards that ISRO set for itself that in 1995 the IRS 1C (India's second generation operational Remote Sensing Satellite) had the distinction of having highest spatial resolution imaging capability among all civilian remote sensing satellites in the world.
1984, India’s first cosmonaut - Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma (later Wg Cdr): Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to travel to space as part of the Soviet Union’s Soyuz T-11 mission. Sharma, an Indian Air Force pilot, spent eight days aboard the Salyut 7 space station, where he conducted scientific experiments. During a famous conversation with then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, when asked how India looked from space, Sharma famously responded, "Saare Jahan Se Achha" (Better than the entire world). Sending an Indian to space was yet another demonstration of the collaborative approach that ISRO has taken all throughout.
2nd and 3rd Indians (nearly) in space: Not a lot is known about ISRO scientists P. Radhakrishnan and N.C. Bhatt. They were the two Indian scientists from ISRO who were selected to undergo astronaut training at NASA in the early 1980s. While neither Radhakrishnan nor Bhatt went on to become astronauts due to delays in the investigations following the Challenger disaster, their contributions and the skills they acquired through NASA’s training program played a key role in the advancement of India’s space technology and in laying the foundation for future Indian astronauts via the Gaganyaan program.
The 2000s: Through a combination of hard work, solid foundation, favorable domestic and foreign policies, being at the right time and place, and the indomitable spirit of delivering despite the odds being stacked against them at times, ISRO has delivered a string of successes over the years. Notable ones in the 2000s are:
Chandrayaan Mission-1 (2008), Mangalyaan (2013-14), the record-breaking PSLV launch (2017, launching 104 satellites on a single mission), Chandrayaan-2 Mission (2019)
Each milestone—from the launch of Aryabhata and the social impact of SITE to the groundbreaking Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions—reflects not just scientific achievement, but also a unique commitment to using space technology for the greater good.
These achievements are a testament to a journey defined by courage, innovation, and an unwavering belief in the potential of space technology to transform society. Yet, this journey is not just the story of its founders; it is also a testament to the countless scientists, engineers, and visionaries who have passed on the baton from one generation to the next. Each phase of ISRO's growth has been marked by individuals who built upon the achievements of their predecessors, embodying the spirit of continuous innovation and resilience.
As ISRO looks forward to new frontiers, like the Gaganyaan mission and beyond, the foundation laid by its early leaders continues to inspire a nation that dares to dream big and reach even higher. The legacy of India's space program reminds us that with ingenuity, collaboration, and the spirit of exploration, even the sky is not the limit.
And about those early memories I mentioned? Yes, they’re real. My father was posted as the registrar at Sainik School Kazhakootam, and we often took trips to Thumba to visit friends. That’s how I had the rare privilege of witnessing some of the early rocket launches from Thumba in the early ’70s.
Perhaps those early experiences are what sparked my enduring sense of awe and curiosity about the skies above, and the infinite wonders they hold.
Oh wow! You saw those things in real! Thankyou for this quick summary and a inspiring timeline. This story should be told more.
Nice story sir. Please write more often.