ISRO 2019 Achievements: The Year That Was

The year 2019 was probably one of the best years for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Not only did ISRO make a mark in the field of space science and technology with Chandrayaan 2, but the organisation also formed interesting collaborations with industry and academia within the country as well.

ISRO successfully accomplished 13 missions including 6 launch vehicle missions and 7  satellite missions during the year 2019. 50  foreign satellites from 7 countries were launched on a commercial basis during this period.

ISRO, in the year 2019, aroused the interest and curiosity amongst school children as well in the field of space science and research. Let us now take a look at some memorable and impactful events that ISRO managed to create in the country in the year 2019.

Launches By ISRO in 2019

1. The year began with ISRO successfully launching Microsat-R and Kalamsat-V2 onboard the PSLV-C44 vehicle.
2. GSAT 31 communication satellite was launched from Kourou, French Guiana onboard Arianespace rocket on 6 February 2019.
3. Launch view gallery along with a Rocket space garden was launched in Sriharikota to enable nearly 5000 people to watch ISRO launches live.
4. EMISAT was successfully launched onboard PSLV-C45 on 1 April 2019.
5. RISAT-2B radar imaging earth observation satellite was launched onboard PSLV-C46 on 22 May 2019.
6. The launch of GSLV-MK III M1, India's most powerful launch vehicle, was accomplished on 22 July 2019. The mission carried Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter spacecraft to its intended orbit. The instruments are continuously providing very useful science data.
7. Cartosat-3, a third-generation agile advanced satellite having high-resolution imaging capability, was launched by PSLV-C47 on 27 November 2019.
8. PSLV-C48 launched RISAT-2BR1 radar imaging earth observation satellite on 11 December 2019.

Collaborations Formed by ISRO with Industry and Academia

1. Qualcomm Technologies Inc. in collaboration with ISRO developed and tested a chipset platform across their portfolio which can support the Indian Regional Navigation satellite system, NavIC. The first-ever NavIC demonstration using the Snapdragon Mobile Platforms was showcased by Qualcomm during the India Mobile Congress at New Delhi during 14 to 16 October 2019.
2. New Space India Limited (NSIL), Bengaluru was incorporated on 6 March 2019. The business activities of NSIL is mainly driven towards enabling Indian industries to productionise space systems and to exploit the commercial opportunities emanating from the Indian space programme.
3. The notable development of the year was technology transfer of Li-ion to Indian industries.10 industries were selected for the transfer of the Li-ion cell technology from ISRO.
4. Space Technology Cells (STCs) have been established at IIT Guwahati and IIT Delhi to take space technology research and applications to newer heights.

1. Space Technology Incubation Centres (S-TIC) were established at NIT, Trichy and NIT, Jalandhar for developing concepts related to Space Science and technology in line with the National policy of ‘Start-up India’.
2. Regional Academic Centre for Space (RAC-S) was established at NIT, Kurukshetra to develop Academia-Industry ecosystem for Space technology.

7. A special programme for School Children called “YuvaVIgyaniKAryakram (YUVIKA)" was organized to impart basic knowledge on space technology, space science and space application.
8. ISRO launched ‘Samwad with Students’ wherein youngsters across India had an opportunity to interact with K Sivan, Chairman, ISRO.

(Source: PIB Release)