ISRO set for a historic 100th launch from Sriharikota
- ISRO Marking a Triumphant Century in Space Exploration from Sriharikota
- Come January 29, 2025, ISRO will scribble its name in astronomical history at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, executing its 100th launch with the GSLV-F15...
- Abdul Kalam, then director of ISRO, steered the experimental flight of Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3 E10), carrying the Rohini Technology Payload.
ISRO Marking a Triumphant Century in Space Exploration from Sriharikota
Get ready for lift-off! Come January 29, 2025, ISRO will scribble its name in astronomical history at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, executing its 100th launch with the GSLV-F15 mission. As the countdown ticks down from T-minus 10, we hurtle back 46 years to where ISRO’s cosmos odyssey began.
Remember August 10, 1979? In the predawn hours, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, then director of ISRO, steered the experimental flight of Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3 E10), carrying the Rohini Technology Payload. Despite an incomplete success story, the fledgling space organization dusted themselves off and aced the landing with the Rohini satellite a year later. And so it began, with two SLVs and four ASLVs warming up the trajectory.
ISRO’s workhorse, the PSLV, fired off 62 missions; the GSLV took the geosync route 16 times. The LMV3 and SSLV each executed seven and three missions, respectively, while an RLV took flight once and the Gaganyaan programme soared with both a Test Vehicle Abort and a Pad Abort Test mission.
Nestled on India’s east coast, Sriharikota claims its spot by offering a conducive launch azimuth corridor, proximity to the equator, and large uninhabited safety zone. Its repertoire boasts blockbuster lunar missions, notably Chandrayaan-1 and 2 and the polar lunar touchdown of Chandrayaan-3. Marking another Milestone, Mars Orbiter and Aditya-L1 lit up the ISRO skymap, leading to India becoming the first spacefaring nation to study both Mars and Sun.
However, the path strewn with multiple failures like GSAT-4, 5P, 4C and EOS-03 proved that even at the pinnacle of success, there’s scope for improvement in the world’s third-largest space agency, by volume and frequency of missions.
As SDSC gears for its centurion launch in 2025, it’s pertinent to recall A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s words at the 60th-anniversary ceremony of the country’s first operational spaceport in 2017 – "We keep moving forward as a team!"