Space (ISRO)
The Indian space programme has a Gujarat origin story and a clear mission timeline. Learn the founder, the launch vehicles and the flagship missions in date order, and note which institutions sit in Ahmedabad.
Mental model
Store the space programme as three columns that examiners mix and match: LAUNCH VEHICLES (PSLV for polar/sun-synchronous, GSLV and LVM3 for heavy geostationary payloads), MISSION FAMILIES (Chandrayaan to the Moon, Mangalyaan to Mars, Aditya to the Sun, Gaganyaan for human flight), and CENTRES (Sriharikota for launches, Bengaluru for the space agency headquarters, Thiruvananthapuram for vehicle development). A question is usually one column asked through another.
Associations
A short trigger on the left, everything it pulls with it on the right.
Vikram Sarabhai is the Gujarat connection.
The father of the Indian space programme was from Ahmedabad, founded the Physical Research Laboratory there, and the Space Applications Centre is in the same city. Any GPSC question linking Gujarat to space runs through him.
PSLV for polar, GSLV for geostationary, LVM3 for heavy.
Three workhorses with three jobs. PSLV puts remote sensing satellites into polar sun-synchronous orbit; GSLV carries communication satellites towards geostationary transfer orbit; LVM3 is the heavy lifter used for the bigger missions.
Things to remember
The night-before list. Short enough to recall cold.
- 1ISRO was formed in 1969; Vikram Sarabhai is regarded as the father of the Indian space programme.
- 2The Physical Research Laboratory and the Space Applications Centre are both at Ahmedabad.
- 3Aryabhata, India's first satellite, was launched in 1975 with Soviet assistance.
- 4Chandrayaan-1 (2008) found evidence of water molecules on the Moon; Chandrayaan-3 (2023) achieved a soft landing near the lunar south pole.
- 5The Mars Orbiter Mission, launched in 2013, made India the first country to reach Mars orbit on its first attempt.
- 6Satellites are launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
In detail
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Bengaluru; its launches go from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
- Aryabhata, launched in 1975, was India's first satellite; Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian in space in 1984.
- Chandrayaan-1 (2008) confirmed water molecules on the Moon; Mangalyaan, the Mars Orbiter Mission, reached Mars orbit in 2014 at the first attempt.
- Chandrayaan-3 soft-landed near the Moon's south polar region in August 2023, making India the first country to land in that region.
- NavIC is India's regional satellite navigation system; the geostationary orbit used by communication satellites lies about 36,000 kilometres above the equator.
Where people slip
- ISRO's launch site is Sriharikota, not Thiruvananthapuram — the latter hosts the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, which builds launch vehicles.
Check yourself
Nothing here is scored — it will not change your mastery figures.
The Physical Research Laboratory, founded by Vikram Sarabhai, is located at:
From the question bank
Who is regarded as the founder of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)?
From the question bank
What was the name of India's first satellite, launched in 1975?
Books to read
- India Year Book — Publications Division, Government of India
- Lucent's General Knowledge
- Science and Technology for Civil Services — Ravi P Agrahari
Official sources
Hand-checked official domains only — the notes above carry no links of their own.