Space Program of India

• The Indian space program began in 1962 by the setting up of Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR).
• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was set-up in 1969 with its headquarters at Bangalore.
• Space commission was set-up in 1972.
• Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching station near Thiruvanthapuram in Kerala was set-up in 1963 for launching facilities.
• Sriharikota Range (SHAR) is a satellite launching station set up in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. SHAR has been renamed as Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
• India's first satellite communication earth station was set-up at Arvi near Pune.
• Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre was set up by Vikram Sarabhai at Thiruvananthapuram to built know-how for satellite technology.
• The first Indian satellite Aryabhatta was launched on April 19, 1975 from Baikanur (erstwhile USSR).
• India launched its second satellite named Bhaskara I on June 7, 1979 from Baikanur.
• The first Indian Remote Sensing Satellite was launched on Mar 17, 1988.
• The first Indian communication satellite, Apple was launched on June 19, 1981 from Kourou in French Guyana (South America). It was the first Indian satellite that was placed in geostationary orbit.