Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh said that a total number of 27 satellite missions and 25 launch vehicle missions were successfully accomplished in the last five years from April 2016 to March 2021.
In the Lok Sabha today, the Minister informed, “In addition, 286 commercial satellites from domestic as well as foreign customers and 8 student satellites from Indian universities were also launched during the five-year period.”
Singh said that some of the major space missions include the first operational flight of India’s heavy-lift launch vehicle GSLV Mk-III which placed India’s second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2 into orbit; Advanced Cartography satellite, Cartosat-3; completion of NavIC constellation; launch of South Asia Satellite; launch of heaviest and most-advanced high throughput communication satellite, GSAT-11 and launch of record 104 satellites in a single PSLV flight.
“Apart from these, three technology demonstrators namely Scramjet engine, Re-Usable Launch Vehicle and test for Crew Escape System were also successfully demonstrated during this period,” he added.
Singh said that the Department of Space has even charted out short-term and long-term plans in the areas of Space Transportation Systems, Satellite Communication & Navigation, Earth Observation, Space Sciences & Planetary Exploration, Capacity Building and Space-based applications.
