First in India – Space & Technology

on
First in India – Space & Technology

This post is a part of the First in India series. Here we list the general knowledge questions and answers about the First in India in Space like First Shuttle, First Satellite, First Launch Vehicle, etc.

First in India – Space & Technology

  • First Satellite – Aryabhatta (April 19, 1975).
    • Launched on – Kosmos-3M (USSR).
  • First Indian Cosmonaut – Sqn.Leader Rakesh Sarma (1984).
    • Spacecraft – Soyuz-T11.
  • First Woman of Indian Origin in Space – Kalpana Chawla (US, November 19, 1997).
    • Spacecraft – Columbia.
    • Famous Words – 'The Whole Universe is My Native Land.'
    • Second Indian Woman in Space – Sunitha Williams (2007).
  • First Rocket Launch Center – Thumba (Kerala, 1963).
  • First Successfully Indigenous Launch Vehicle – SLV-3.
  • First Satellite launched SLV-3 – Rohini (April 17, 1983).
    • First Indigenously built and launched Satellite – Rohini.
  • First Satellite Earth Station for Domestic Communications – Secunderabad.
  • First Space Tourist of India – Santosh George.
  • First Mapping Satellite of India – CARTOSAT I (May 5, 2005).
  • First Satellite in the world launched solely for Education purposes – EDUSAT aka GSAT 3 (September 20, 2004).
  • India's First venture into the interplanetary space – Mangalyaan (November 5, 2013).
  • First Dedicated Multi-wavelength Observatory of India – AstroSat (September 28, 2015).
  • First Indigenous built all-weather Radar Imaging Satellite of India – RISAT 1 (2012).
  • First Indian Experimental Communication Satellite – APPLE (Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment, 1981).
  • First Operational Multipurpose Communication and Meteorology Satellite of India – INSAT-1A (1982).
  • First Meteorological Satellite built by ISRO – Kalpana 1 (2002).
    • Geosynchronous Satellite,
    • Previously known as METSAT 1,
    • Later renamed by then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
  • India's First Defense Satellite – TES (Technology Experimental Satellite, October 22, 2001).
  • First Indigenously Made Remote Sensing Satellite of India – IRS-1A (March 17, 1988).
  • ISRO's First Humanoid Robot Set For an Unmanned Trip Into Space – Vyommitra.
  • First Solar Mission – Aditya-L1 (expected in 2022).
    • Launch Vehicle – PSLV XL.
  • First Moon Mission – Chandrayan I (Lost communications to the probe after successfully entering the lunar orbit on November 8, 2008).
    • Launched on – October 22, 2008.
    • Launch Vehicle – PSLV C-11.
    • Launched from – Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh).
  • First Successful Moon Mission – Chandrayan II.
    • Launched on –  July 22, 2019..
    • Launch Vehicle – GSLV Mk III-M1.
    • Lander – Vikram.
    • Rover –  Pragyan.
    • Launched from – Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh).
  • First Mars Mission – Mangalyaan (with France).
    • Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).
    • Launch Vehicle – PSLV C-25.
    • Launched on – November 5, 2013. 
    • Launched from – Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh).
    • First Asian nation to reach the orbit of Mars.
    • Cheapest Interplanetary Space Mission in the World ($74 million).
    • First Indian spacecraft to survive the Van Allen Belt (39 crossings).
  • First Venus Mission – Shukrayaan-I (with Sweden, expected in 2024-2026).
  • First Manned Mission – Gaganyaan (expected in 2022).
    • Launch Vehicle – GSLV Mk III.

📝 SideNotes:

  • Father of the Indian Space Program – Dr. Vikram Sarabhai.
  • ISRO –
    • Headquarters – Bangalore.
    • Established – 1969.
    • First Chairman – Dr. Vikram Sarabhai.
  • Father of Indian Nuclear Programme – Homi J. Bhabha.
  • Backup astronaut for Sqn.Leader Rakesh Sharma on his maiden voyage to space – Ravish Malhotra.
  • First Solar Mission in the world – Parker Solar Probe (USA).