While India has hundreds of millions of poor people, its rocket space technology has long outpaced that of Britain, once its sovereign. Rockets were introduced to the country from its neighbor China hundreds of years before India became a European colony, and in 1792 the invading Europeans encountered Indian rockets at the Battle of Selingapatam, when the Indians fired a large number of rockets at the British. The main body of the Indian combat rockets were iron tubes tied to guided bamboo poles and had a range of more than 1,000 meters.
Initial experience
On November 21, 1963, India gained its first practical experience with rockets. At that time NASA launched an American made Nike Apache small high altitude rocket from Indian territory. Interestingly, the arrow head instrument module was carried to the launch site on a bicycle pack.
Over the next 12 years, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the former Soviet Union, which were competing to influence India, launched more than 350 geophysical research rockets from India's Tonba Equatorial Rocket Range. India built its own space science and technology centers based on the lessons learned during this period and began to develop its own rockets. The first rocket designed and developed by India was the Rohini, a solid-fuel rocket with a gunpowder engine and a diameter of 75 mm, which was launched on November 20, 1967, at an altitude of 9,000 meters with a 1 kg scientific instrument. The Indians then developed the RH-100, RH-125, RH-300 rockets. the RH-560 rocket was developed in 1974.
In the following April 19, 1975, India, with the help of the former Soviet Union, finally "into space": India's first satellite "Aryabhatta" in the former Soviet Union Kapustin Yar Cosmodrome by the Soviet Union, the "Cosmos 3" space launch site. "Aryabhatta, India's first satellite, was launched into space by the Soviet Union's Kapustin Yar launch site on a Cosmos 3 carrier rocket. Two years earlier, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) had begun developing its own lightweight rocket. In the 1960s, former Indian President Abdul Kalam, a college student, was exposed to technical information on the design of the Scout small solid-fuel launch vehicle while studying in the United States. "The Scout was actually a prototype of India's first space rocket, the SLV-3. Forty years later, some Western media outlets have been claiming that all of India's early rocket-space technology equipment was copied from American products.
On August 10, 1979, India conducted the first launch of the SLV-3 rocket from the Sriharikota Island range. The flight director was Abdul Kalam. However, the launch ended in failure when the control valve clogged, causing the rocket to crash in the Bay of Bengal.
On July 18, 1980, the SLV-3 rocket made its second flight, sending the Rossini artificial Earth satellite into space. The satellite weighed 35 kilograms and was an octagonal prism in transition to a pyramid shape. But India did not stop at this "star", May 30, 1981 and launched a third rocket SLV-3-D1. The first three stages of the rocket work normally, but the fourth stage separation is incomplete, and therefore carrying a television camera of 38 kg of heavy The RSD1 satellite did not enter the intended orbit and stopped working after nine days and later ended in failure.
On April 17, 1983, the fourth launch was successful, placing the 41.5 kg third Rossini satellite, RSD2, into orbit. The satellite then returned images of the Earth to the ground.
The success of the SLV-3 rocket and the first few satellites marked the end of the nascent phase of India's space endeavors, which has since moved on to the next phase - the operational use of space.
Steady Progress
The new phase of Indian rocket space activity was characterized by the application of the results of space activities to everyday life. The new five-stage launch vehicle of the ASLV developed during this period consisted of a modified core section (mid-section) of the SLV-3 and two bundled solid fuel take-off gas pedals (based on the first stage of the SLV-3). After 2 failed launches in 1987 and 1988, the 150 kg SROSSC satellite was successfully placed in orbit in 1992. Subsequently, India developed a four-stage launch vehicle, the PSLV Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which weighs 295 tons and is capable of placing a payload weighing nearly 4 tons in low orbit or 800 kg in geostationary transfer orbit.The PSLV rocket was first launched on 20 September 1993.The PSLV is primarily designed for launching satellites into large inclined orbits, and is also used for launching satellites into large inclined orbits. This type of rocket is mainly used for launching satellites into large inclination (polar) low orbit, which is particularly suitable for Earth remote sensing, meteorological and navigation satellites.
India later developed the most powerful and advanced GSLV launch vehicle on the basis of PSLV, which has a launch weight of about 400 tons and is capable of placing a payload of about 2.5 tons into Earth transfer orbit and a payload of 5 tons into low orbit.
The main body of the GSLV is a central solid-fuel stage inherited from the PSLV launch vehicle, surrounded by four bundled liquid gas pedals, which are powered by the Vikas engine. The engine is a Nordic Viking engine produced under license on the Ariane rocket. The same type of engine was used in the second stage. But the special feature of the rocket is that its final stage, the third stage, is fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, which provides the rocket with a powerful energy source.
India's GSLV launch vehicle
Now, India is no longer accustomed to relying on foreign countries and has decided to master cryogenic engine technology on its own.
In 1998, India's domestically produced oxyhydrogen engine underwent its first test.
In January 2007, a fully complementary cryogenic stage was tested. Just recently, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin paid an official visit to India's Vikram Sarabhai Space Center. He stood for a full 10 minutes next to India's domestically produced cryogenic engine, the same technology that the Americans prevented India from acquiring from Russia 13 years ago.
After successful tests, the GSLV Mk II rocket was ready for launch in late 2007. Indian engineers overcame a number of technical problems to develop an engine that was in no way inferior to the Russian prototype, and the cryogenic stage of the Indian rocket weighed 100 kilograms less than the cryogenic stage of the Russian 12КРБ rocket.
But building rockets is not the ultimate goal; the mission of rockets is to put various satellites into orbit. India is one of the few countries in the world that can independently produce and launch geosynchronous communication satellites. In addition, India is also capable of launching Earth remote sensing and map mapping satellites. India's plan for 2007 is to manufacture and launch the 2180 kg Gsat-4 technology demonstration satellite for testing the GANGAN space navigation system.
In addition, India is directly utilizing space technology equipment to address social issues in the areas of health and education. India's INSAT-2C satellite, launched in January 2007, will serve 300 rural tele-education centers, and in the future there are plans to build 10,000 such tele-education centers throughout India. Youth can study at these distance education centers for 10 months, followed by an internship at Sajapam University. At the end of the course the university will award a full diploma to the interns. Besides video equipment for tele-conferencing, villages will also be equipped with tele-medicine equipment through which nurses can consult specialists.
Another testimony to India's extraordinary achievements in the field of space technology is the fact that in 2006, India won the contract to build and launch communication satellites for Europe.
Manned Space Program
Now we are witnessing the third phase of India's space development. This phase began with an important event that took place on October 17, 2006: the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) submitted a report to the Prime Minister of the Government on the possibility of sending Indian astronauts into space. According to the report, India is planning to conduct its first manned space flight in 2014~2015, subject to adequate financial security. If the ambitious plans of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) come to fruition, Indians could be on the moon by 2020. India plans to accomplish both missions independently. The Prime Minister of India has generally approved the ambitious plans of the scientists.The Indian scientific and technological community announced its plans for human space flight in the country on November 7, 2006 on the eve of a conference in Bangalore. Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), said that India's best scientific research organizations would be involved in the project. According to advance estimates, India's manned space flight program is an investment of $2 billion to $3 billion, while the moon landing program will require even more money.