| YEAR | MILESTONE |
|---|---|
| 1962 | Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) formed by the Department of Atomic Energy and work on establishing Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) started. |
| 1963 | First sounding rocket launched from TERLS
(November 21, 1963). |
| 1965 | Space Science & Technology Centre (SSTC) established in Thumba. |
| 1967 | Satellite Telecommunication Earth Station set up at Ahmedabad. |
| 1968 | TERLS dedicated to the United Nations (February 2, 1968). |
| 1969 | Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) formed under Department of Atomic Energy (August 15, 1969). |
| 1972 | Space Commission and Department of Space set up
(June 1, 1972). ISRO brought under DOS. |
| 1972-1976 | Air-borne remote sensing experiments. |
| 1975 | Becomes Government Organisation (April 1, 1975).
ISRO First Indian Satellite, Aryabhata, launched (April 19, 1975). |
| 1975-1976 | Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) conducted. |
| 1977 | Satellite Telecommunication Experiments Project (STEP) carried out. |
| 1979 | Bhaskara-I, an experimental satellite for earth observations, launched (June 7, 1979).
First Experimental launch of SLV-3 with Rohini Technology Payload on board (August 10, 1979). Satellite could not be placed in orbit. |
| 1980 | Second Experimental launch of SLV-3, Rohini satellite successfully placed in orbit. (July 18, 1980). |
| 1981 | First developmental launch of SLV-3.
RS-D1 placed in orbit (May 31, 1981) APPLE, an experimental geo-stationary communication satellite successfully launched (June 19, 1981). Bhaskara-II launched (November 20, 1981). |
| 1982 | INSAT-1A launched (April 10, 1982).
Deactivated on September 6, 1982. |
| 1983 | INSAT-1B, launched (August 30, 1983).
Second developmental launch of SLV-3. RS-D2 placed in orbit (April 17, 1983). |
| 1984 | Indo-Soviet manned space mission (April 1984). |
| 1987 | First developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-1 satellite on board (March 24, 1987). Satellite could not be placed in orbit. |
| 1988 | Launch of first operational Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-1A (March 17, 1988).
Second developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-2 on board (July 13, 1988). Satellite could not be placed in orbit. INSAT-1C launched (July 21, 1988). Abandoned in November 1989. |
| 1990 | INSAT-1D launched (June 12, 1990). |
| 1991 | Second operational Remote Sensing satellite, IRS-1B, launched (August 29, 1991). |
| 1992 | Third developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-C on board (May 20, 1992). Satellite placed in orbit.
INSAT-2A, the first satellite of the indigenously-built second-generation INSAT series, launched (July 10, 1992). |
| 1993 | INSAT-2B, the second satellite in the INSAT-2 series, launched (July 23, 1993).
Developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-1E on board (September 20, 1993). Satellite could not be placed in orbit. |
| 1994 | Fourth developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-C2 on board (May 4, 1994). Satellite placed in orbit.
Second developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-P2 on board (October 15, 1994). Satellite successfully placed in polar sunsynchronous orbit. |
| 1995 | INSAT-2C, the third satellite in the INSAT-2 series, launched (December 7, 1995).
Launch of third operational Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-1C (December 28, 1995). |
| 1996 | Third developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-P3 on board (March 21, 1996). Satellite placed in polar sunsynchronous orbit. |
| 1997 | First operational launch of PSLV with IRS-1D on board
(September 29, 1997). Satellite placed in orbit. (An in-orbit satellite, ARABSAT-1C, since renamed INSAT-2DT, was acquired in November 1997 to partly augment the INSAT system). INSAT-2D, fourth satellite in the INSAT series, launched (June 4, 1997). Becomes inoperable on October 4, 1997. |
| 1998 | INSAT system capacity augmented with the readiness of INSAT-2DT acquired from ARABSAT (January 1998). |
| 1999 | INSAT-2E, the last satellite in the multipurpose INSAT-2 series, launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (April 3, 1999).
Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT), launched by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C2) along with Korean KITSAT-3 and German DLR-TUBSAT from Sriharikota (May 26, 1999). |
| 2000 | INSAT-3B, the first satellite in the third generation INSAT-3 series, launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana(March 22, 2000). |
| 2001 | The first developmental launch of GSLV-D1 with GSAT-1 on board from Sriharikota (April 18, 2001)
ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C3, successfully launched three satellites — Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) of ISRO, BIRD of Germany and PROBA of Belgium – into their intended orbits (October 22, 2001). |
| 2002 | Successful launch of INSAT-3C by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (January 24, 2002).
ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C4, successfully launched KALPANA-1 satellite from Sriharikota(September 12, 2002). |
| 2003 | Successful launch of INSAT-3A by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (April 10, 2003).
The Second developmental launch of GSLV-D2 with GSAT-2 on board from Sriharikota (May 8, 2003).
Successful launch of INSAT-3E by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (September 28, 2003). ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C5, successfully launched RESOURCESAT-1 (IRS-P6) satellite from Sriharikota(October 17, 2003). |
| 2004 | The first operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F01) successfully launched EDUSAT from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota (September 20, 2004) |
| 2005 | ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C6, successfully launched CARTOSAT-1 and HAMSAT satellites from Sriharikota(May 5, 2005).
Successful launch of INSAT-4A by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (December 22, 2005). |
| 2006 | Second operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F02) from SDSC SHAR with INSAT-4C on board. (July 10, 2006). Satellite could not be placed in orbit. |
| 2007 | ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C7 successfully launches four satellites – India’s CARTOSAT-2 and Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) and Indonesia’s LAPAN-TUBSAT and Argentina’s PEHUENSAT-1 (January 10, 2007).
Successful recovery of SRE-1 after maneuvering it to reenter the earth’s atmosphere and descend over the Bay of Bengal about 140 km east of Sriharikota (January 22, 2007).
Successful launch of INSAT-4B by Ariane-5 from Kourou French Guyana, (March 12, 2007). ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C8, successfully launched Italian astronomical satellite, AGILE from Sriharikota (April 23, 2007).
Successful launch of GSLV (GSLV-F04) with INSAT-4CR on board from SDSC SHAR (September 2, 2007). |
| 2008 | PSLV-C10 successfully launches TECSAR satellite under a commercial contract with Antrix Corporation (January 21, 2008).
PSLV-C9 successfully launches CARTOSAT-2A, IMS-1 and 8 foreign nano satellites from Sriharikota (April 28, 2008). PSLV-C11 successfully launches CHANDRAYAAN-1 from Sriharikota (October 22, 2008). |
