India is fifth amongst spacefaring countries in the world

India is fifth amongst spacefaring countries in the world: According to Minister of State for Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh, India is the fifth among spacefaring countries in the world having end-to-end capabilities in space research and development.

India has the capability to launch from its own land and operate programmes of earth observation, satellite communication, meteorology, space science and navigation, and ground infrastructure.

After space sector reforms, the NewSpace industries are also emerging at a fast pace.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz: August 2023

The Minister also listed out significant progress made by ISRO during the last five years. Some of the major achievements are listed below:

• 27 satellites and 22 Launch Vehicle missions have been successfully accomplished during the period (July 2018 – July 2023), besides the successful Pad Abort Test (PAT) to qualify the Crew Escape System (CES) in July 2018 and the Reusable Launch Vehicle autonomous landing mission in April 2023.
• In June 2018, India announced a capacity building training programme UNNATI (UNispace Nanosatellite Assembly & Training by ISRO) on Nanosatellites development through a combination of theoretical coursework and hands-on training on Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT). A total of 90 participants from 45 countries benefitted from the program across three batches. (Two in 2019 and 1 in 2022). 
• India’s second mission to Moon, Chandrayaan-2 was successfully launched on July 22, 2019 on-board GSLV Mk III-M1. Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter is providing valuable science data for the research community.
• The launch of PSLV-C48/ RISAT-2BR1 in December 2019 marked the 50^th launch of PSLV, the workhorse launch vehicle.
• In 2019, ISRO launched an annual special programme called “Young Scientist Programme” or the “YUva VIgyani KAryakram” (YUVIKA), in line with the Government’s vision “Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan”. A total of 603 students have attended the YUVIKA program spread over 3 years – 2019, 2022 and 2023.
• In 2019, the NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) got incorporated, as a wholly owned Government of India Undertaking/ Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE), under the administrative control of Department of Space (DOS).
• On June 26, 2020, the Government of India announced Space Sector Reforms – a major transformation of Indian Space Sector with enhanced participation of private players in Indian space programme and playing key roles to boost India’s market share in Global Space Economy.
• Setting up of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) and enhancing the role New Space India Limited (NSIL) are the two major thrust areas in the Reform.
• The Government of India announced the establishment of IN-SPACe in June 2020 as an autonomous agency under the Department of Space, with the goal of creating an eco-system of industry, academia, and start-ups and attracting a significant share of the global space economy by authorising and regulating the activities of NGEs in the space sector through detailed guidelines and procedures. IN-SPACe Headquarters at Ahmedabad was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in June 2022.
• The Hon’ble Minister of State (Department of Space) dedicated ISRO System for Safe & Sustainable Space Operations Management (IS⁴OM) to the nation in July, 2022.
• LVM3 (GSLV MkIII) M2/OneWeb India-1 Mission was successfully accomplished on 23^rd October 2022.
• On November 18, 2022, M/s Skyroot Aerospace Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, successfully launched Vikram-S (Prambh mission), a suborbital launch vehicle.
• First private launchpad & mission control center established by M/s Agnikul Cosmos Pvt. Ltd., Chennai in ISRO campus at SDSC, SHAR on 25^th November 2022.
• On Feb 10^th, 2023, the successful flight of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV – D2) took place, launching three satellites – EOS-07, Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2 (a combined effort of about 750 girl students across India guided by Space Kidz India, Chennai).
• On March 7^th, 2023, controlled re-entry experiment for the decommissioned Megha-Tropiques-1 (MT-1) satellite was carried out successfully, with final impact in the Pacific Ocean, demonstrating the nation’s continued efforts towards ensuring the long-term sustainability of outer space activities.
• LVM3 M3/OneWeb India-2 Mission was successfully accomplished on 26^th March, 2023, placing 36 OneWeb satellites into their intended orbit. With this, NSIL completed its contract to launch 72 OneWeb satellites into Low Earth Orbit.
• Reusable Launch Vehicle Autonomous Landing Mission (RLV LEX) was successfully demonstrated at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, Karnataka on 2^nd April, 2023.
• The GSLV-F12/NVS-01 mission was completed successfully on May 29, 2023. The NVS-01 navigation satellite, the first of two second-generation satellites planned for the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) programme, was launched into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by GSLV.
• LVM3-M4 successfully launched the Chandrayaan-3 Spacecraft on 14^th July, 2023. Lunar orbit insertion activities are in progress and Moon landing is scheduled on 23^rd August, 2023.