Essay on “India and the Space Age” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

India and the Space Age

In Indian mythology, there are a number of legends of inter-planetary flights and travels. Since the dawn of human civilization, space-flights have fired the human imagination. The actual beginning towards space-travel was made in 1957 when the Russians launched their first satellite called Sputnik-I into space. Since then space-research and travel has assumed many dimensions. The landing of man on the moon was an epoch-making event. The U.S. spacecrafts like Challenger, etc., have ushered a new era in space technology and travel.

India’s entry into space age is rather late. It was in 1975 that India launched its first scientific satellite called Aryabhatta-I into space in collaboration with the USSR. It was a very modest beginning. We did not have our own rocket-carrier and so were helped by the Russians. However, it gave India a space status. With it India acquired indigenous capability in satellite technology.

The second Indian satellite, Bhaskara-I was launched on 7th June, 1979 from a Soviet Cosmodrome. This 444 kg. experimental satellite contained instruments for carrying out remote sensing experiments. An improved version of Bhaskara, named Bhaskara-II was launched on 20th November, 1981. Again a Soviet Booster rocket was used for its launching. Aryabhatta and Bhaskara have been two great Indian mathematicians in the ancient period of our history. It was Aryabhatta who had laid the foundation of Algebra and had measured the earth’s movement round the sun. With the launching of these satellites India made her mark on the world map of space.

Rohini was the first Indian satellite to be launched from Indian soil using the indigenous SLV-3 vehicle on July 18, 1980. The launch-rocket took 12 minutes to put Rohini in its orbit round the earth. With this India became the sixth country in the world to possess satellite launching capability. Rohini made a perfect take off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. It was a great achievement for Indian spate-scientists. Its fuel efficiency compared to the best in the world. The Indian space-scientists had developed required technology within two years, as against many years anticipated by foreign experts. It was followed by a new series of Rohini Satellites.

India’s first experimental geostationary communication satellite APPLE (Ariane Passenger Payload,Experiment) was successfully orbited on 19th June, 1981 by European Space Agency’s Ariane launcher from Kourou in French Guyana. It enhanced India’s technological capability in building geostationary communication satellites. It was used for conducting experiments in communication technology and for domestic communication radio-net-working, data relay, etc. The Indian National Satellite-IA was launched on April 10, 1982, from the U.S. Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, but because its C-band antenna jammed and failed, it was abandoned. INSAT-IB was placed in orbit in 1983. In 1984 Sqn. Ldr. Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to go into the space aboard the Russian Soyuz T-II. On April 30, 1985 Anuradha satellite was sent into space on board Spacalab-3 on the U.S. Space shuttle challenger. It was a unique space experiment to study low energy cosmic rays.

Recently India has successfully test-fired a few Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBM) like the Prithvi and the Nag. The military and defence implication’s of these tests are obvious. India’s ambitious plan in rocketry and missiles have opened the path for continuous space research and exploration. Thus, the achievements of India in this field may not be spectacular, but they are by no means small. We hope, in near future, our scientists will be able to achieve much more in the use of space both for the purpose of peace and defence.