Recent Achievements of ISRO

Recent achievements of ISRO include the following

Launch of 104 Satellites

ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C37) created history by successfully launching record 104 satellites in single mission. Of the total 104 satellites, three were Indian and remaining 101 belonged to international customers. Three Indian satellites were Cartosat-2 (main payload) and nanosatellites INS-1A and INS-1B. International customer satellites were from US (96) and one each from Netherlands, Switzerland, Israel, Kazakhstan and UAE.

Resourcesat-2A Launched

PSLV-C36 in its 38th flight successfully launched RESOURCESAT-2A remote sensing satellite into the Sun Synchronous Orbit at 825 km height. It will provide information on water bodies, crop extent, farm lands, forests, mineral deposits, and coasts, rural and urban spreads for the next five years. It will be useful in crop area and production estimation, drought monitoring, soil mapping, cropping system analysis and farm advisories generation.

Scramjet engine

ISRO successfully tested scramjet engine. India is the fourth country to successfully test the scramjet engine after United States, Russia and the European Space Agency. Scramjet stands for Supersonic Combustion Ramjet. It breathes air and uses high speed vehicle to forcefully compress the incoming air before combustion. It is also called the air breathing engine as it uses atmospheric oxygen to burn the hydrogen fuel. They are efficient only at supersonic speed.

INSAT 3DR satellite

ISRO’s GSLV F05 spacecraft successfully placed INSAT 3DR satellite into a geosynchronous orbit. It is an advanced weather satellite that will provide a variety of meteorological services to the country. It can provide imaging in Middle Infrared band to provide night time pictures of low clouds and fog.

PSLV successfully launches 8 Satellites

ISRO in its longest ever launch mission launched eight satellites in different orbits using multiple burn technology. It is for the first time that satellites in two different orbits were placed by the same rocket, PSLV-C35. It was carrying one weather satellite, SCATSAT-1 and seven others.

GSAT 18 communication satellite

ISRO’s latest communication satellite, GSAT 18 was successfully launched from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana, South America. ISRO’s Master Control Facility at Hassan, Karnataka is controlling the satellite. ISRO does not have any launcher capable of carrying heavier satellites like GSAT-18. However, ISRO is developing GSLV –III to overcome the challenge.

Hypersonic Wind Tunnel

ISRO commissioned the world’s third largest hypersonic wind tunnel at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram. It will help in the aero-thermodynamic modelling of future missions like the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), Air breathing propulsion systems etc in a hypersonic environment. The Hypersonic Wind Tunnel has been indigenously designed, developed and made in India with the support of Indian industries.

Mangalyaan, or Mars-Craft: India’s first Mars Mission

Mangalyaan spacecraft or Mars-Craft, is an unmanned spacecraft placed successfully in the orbit to study about the planet Mars under the India’s ambitious Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). The mission was first announced in 2008, by the then chairperson of ISRO G. Madhavan Nair, and was later completed by the scientists of ISRO under the leadership of K Radhakrishnan. The GoI approved the project in 2012, and the spacecraft was successfully launched on 5th of November 2013 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. It  reached into the orbit on 24 September 2014.

Major Objectives of the Mission

The main objective of the mission is the exploration of the surface of Mars and Martian atmosphere. The spacecraft is attached with methane sensor to detect the presence of methane on the planet, as the presence of gas indicates the life on planet. The spacecraft also contains Lyman Alpha Photometer which measures the abundance of hydrogen isotopes on the planet, thereby, providing conformity about the planet to be dry or wet one. The use of Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer in the spacecraft would help to understand the composition and mineralogy of Mars, and the attached colour cameras on the spacecrafts provides information about the terrains of the planet.