History of Rocketry in India
- Paper number
IAC-07-E4.3.05
- Author
Dr. Gowarikar Vasant, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India
- Coauthor
Dr. B.N. Suresh, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India
- Year
2007
- Abstract
History has it that in the Anglo-Mysore Wars during 1750 – 1799 AD, rockets used by the troops of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan demoralized the British Cavalry. The history slowly crept upon the future with new materials, technologies and payloads. The rocketry of Indian space programme took birth on November 21, 1963, when Nike-Apache, an American sounding rocket took off from the shores of Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram on the west coast of India. But Dr.Vikram Sarabhai, who conceived and launched the space programme, strongly believed in utilising the advanced technologies for the development of the country and thus benefit the common man. By 1966 it was clear that indigenous development of spacecraft to meet the needs of the country in remote sensing and communications was the main agenda of Sarabhai. He also visualized that India developed her own launch vehicles to build end to end capability in the country. Indian Space Research Organization encouraged the young of scientists and engineers to venture into untrodden areas with freedom to do what they felt appropriate. Thus, at one time there were no less than a dozen sounding rocket designs on which people were working. From such creative milieu grew a family of operational sounding rockets known as the Rohini sounding rockets. July 18, 1980 will for ever be cherished by the launch vehicle community of ISRO for on that day SLV-3, India's first launch vehicle, successfully orbited a satellite. By world standards prevailing at that time, SLV-3 was a tiny thing. But it was giant leap for India. With its payload capability of about 40Kg, SLV-3 was by no means a vehicle for launching operational satellites. For that purpose ISRO had set its focus on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). But the leap from SLV-3 (with an overall lift-off weight of 17 t and payload of 40 kg) to PSLV (overall lift off weight of 295 t with payload of 900 kg) was too big for a fledgling space programme. Thus was conceived the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle ASLV, (overall lift off weight of 39 t and payload of 150 kg) a technological bridge between SLV-3 and PSLV. But the two successive failures of the ASLV sent shock waves through ISRO. But the failures also brought new assets to ISRO--a thorough and in depth understanding of the nuances of launch vehicle technology. Even as the ASLV experience was being internalised and absorbed, a massive infrastructure built up for PSLV was underway. The PSLV incorporated all the ingredients of a world class vehicle excepting, cryo technology. Though the first flight of PSLV on September 20, 1993 was not fully successful, ISRO was not unduly upset because the failure was traced to a simple software error. The second flight on October 15, 1994 was an unqualified success. After that ISRO never looked back. With nine successful flights in a row and with its multiple mission and multiple satellite launch capability, PSLV has become the workhorse of ISRO. It will also be the vehicle for the first moon shot of ISRO. With the successful maiden launch of GSLV (Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) with a cryo stage, on April 18, 2001 ISRO could claim to have traversed fully the path shown by Sarabhai. An entirely new dimension was added to the Indian space programme on January 22, 2007 when a space capsule weighing over 550 kg was recovered very precisely after it had orbited the earth for 12 days. The future for launch vehicles in ISRO looks bright. The GSLV MKIII, with its payload capability of about 4 t in GTO, will push ISRO to the forefront of the global launch vehicle community. Cutting edge technologies such as re-usable launch vehicles and air-breathing propulsion are also being pursued by ISRO.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-07-E4.3.05.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.