GS3 PYQ (Mains Answer Writing): Achievements in Space Technology | Science & Technology for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Discuss India’s achievements in the field of Space Science and Technology. How the application of this technology has helped India in its socio-economic development? (UPSC GS3 Mains)

India has became a significant global player in space science and technological(S&T) developments. The credit goes to ISRO and government’s support for it. India has formally coordinated its various organisations related to space programme in 1972 by constituting the space commission and the Development of Space (DOS). Both of these institutes are Umbrella organisations which direct and regulate India’s space programme.
Achievements in Space S&T:

• Mars Orbiter Mission: India’s first inter planetary mission, the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft was successfully launched onboard PSLV-C25. It made India to become one of the four nations in the world to send space mission to Planet Mars. Mars Orbiter Mission is mainly intended to establish the Indian technological capability to reach Martian orbit and to explore Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments.
• PSLV – A Workhorse Launch Vehicle: India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), with a proven track record of 24 successful flights, has provided the country the crucial autonomy in ‘access to space’. During the last decade, PSLV had 15 successively successful flights and has placed 23 Indian satellites and 31 foreign satellites into orbit.
• India’s Mission to Moon: India’s maiden moon exploration mission ‘Chandrayaan-1’ was launched in October 2008 for mapping the lunar surface with high resolution remote sensing and study the chemical and mineralogical composition. This mission has enabled to detect the presence water molecules on the lunar surface, which has set new directions of lunar explorations in the global community. Recently Chandrayaan 2 successfully put orbiter in moon’s orbit but failed to do soft landing on moon.
• Indian Cryogenic Engine & Stage: The successful flight testing of indigenous cryogenic stage onboard GSLV-D5 Flight. Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is capable of placing 2 Tonne class communication satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and India is one among six countries in the world to demonstrate such launch capability to GTO with the use of complex cryogenic technology.
• Remote Sensing and National Natural Resource Management System: The Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) System, with currently 11 satellites in orbit, is one of the largest constellations of remote sensing satellites in operation in the world today. It provides inputs for management of natural resources and various developmental projects across the country using space based imagery.
• Space Capsule Recovery: A leap-frog in Indian Launch Vehicle Technology was achieved in 2007 through the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment Mission SRE-1 which established India’s technological capability to recover an orbiting satellite with precise re-entry trajectories.

Socio-Economic development through application of space technology:

• Survey of various mineral and natural resources have been made possible through remote sensing.
• Management of these resources, their development conservation and formulation of various policies are effectively done with the use of information derived through remote sensing.
• Various meteorological services including information about monsoon, climate flood, cyclonic activities etc are provided through the technologies.
• It has developed communication technology in India.
• They have proved very useful in spread of education. Even in remote areas, the expertise educations have been made possible through the talk back channels of INSAT-3D satellite.
• They have helped in environment conservation programmes estimation of agricultural production and water resources information’s.
• Green revolution had been made possible through this technology.
• The concept of “Gramsat” satellites have emerged to provide the basic requirements of villages.
• Apart from these various uses, the space programme has helped in social cultural and scientific consolidation and harmony.

In these ways, the space programme has given a push to every aspect of our national policies and programmes contributing widely towards socio-economic, development of India, besides economic and scientific progress. It is time to make the application of space technologies to everyday lives. There is lot of scope and potential in this regard.