After marking a humble beginning in the Indian space programme with a tiny rocket supplied by the United States, ISRO would launch a 6,500 kg communication satellite built by the US in the next couple of months, the chairman of the space agency, V Narayanan said on Sunday.Following the historic launch of NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission onboard a GSLV-F16 rocket on July 30, ISRO would be launching another satellite for the United States, he said at an event near Chennai.
Narayanan, who is also the secretary of Department of Space, was presented with the honorary degree of Doctor of Science, by the Governor of Maharashtra C P Radhakrishnan, during the 21st Convocation of SRM Institute of Science and Technology at Kattankulathur near Chennai.
In his acceptance speech, Narayanan recalled that the ISRO was set up in 1963 and the country was 6-7 years behind advanced countries then. In the same year, a tiny rocket was donated by the United States marking the beginnings of the Indian Space Programme. “It was on November 21, 1963,” he said.
In 1975, through satellite data given by the US, ISRO demonstrated ‘mass communication’ by keeping 2,400 television sets across 2,400 villages of 6 Indian states, he said.
“From that (kind of humble beginnings), the 30th of July was a historical day for the Indian space programme. We have launched the NISAR satellite. The costliest satellite ever built in the world. The L Band SAR payload from the USA and S Band payload provided by ISRO. The satellite was placed in orbit precisely by Indian launcher (GSLV). And today, we are shoulder to shoulder with advanced countries,” Narayanan remarked.