India's space race: From bullock carts to Gaganyaan

“There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose.”

When Dr Vikram Sarabhai uttered those words, India was yet to become the thriving contender for space that it is today. But words hold power. More so when one envisions a future many think is too far-fetched. That visionary, and India's father of space research, Dr Sarabhai, dared to imagine rockets launching from Indian soil not as a luxury, but as a necessity. A means to lift millions through technology, education, and communication.

What started as a simple prototype, built within the humble confinements of a tiny outhouse in his Ahmedabad home, would soon take flight, inching India closer to a future once thought unimaginable.


This is the story of how one dream, one vision, and one relentless aspiration propelled a third-world country into the race for space.

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From a church, a beach, and INCOSPAR
It’s hard to imagine now, but India’s space programme began in a small church on the shores of Kerala. In 1962, the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) chose Thumba, a quiet fishing village near Thiruvananthapuram, as the site for its first rocket launch station. The reason was as practical as it was poetic: it sat almost exactly on the magnetic equator, an ideal location for atmospheric research.

The St. Mary Magdalene Church became the control room. The adjoining bishop’s house turned into the office. The images from those days have become iconic symbols of how resourcefulness filled the gaps that money could not.

On November 21, 1963, India launched its first sounding rocket, a small Nike-Apache supplied by the United States. It was a modest start, but it marked the moment India had officially entered the space age.

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The birth of ISRO and India’s first satellites
On 15th August 1969, INCOSPAR evolved into the Indian Space Research Organisation — ISRO — with Vikram Sarabhai as its first chairman. Its mission was clear: to harness space technology for national development, whether in weather forecasting, telecommunications, education, or resource mapping.

The first big leap came in 1975, when India launched its first satellite, Aryabhata, named after the ancient Indian mathematician and astronomer. Though it was built in India, the launch took place from the Soviet Union’s Kapustin Yar site. Aryabhata stayed in orbit for nearly 17 years.

In the years that followed, satellites like Bhaskara (for Earth observation) and APPLE (for experimental communication) expanded India’s capabilities. APPLE’s launch in 1981 was particularly memorable, notably for the image of the satellite being transported on a bullock cart to test facilities, a reminder of how far ambition could stretch limited resources.

By the late 1980s, India was no longer just a participant in the space race, it was becoming a contender with its own launch vehicles, setting the stage for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) programme that would define ISRO’s global reputation.

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PSLV: The workhorse that carried India’s dreams
In the early 1990s, ISRO introduced the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle — the PSLV — a rocket designed to place satellites into polar orbits. It wasn’t an overnight success; the first flight in 1993 failed. But by its second attempt in 1994, the PSLV had found its footing, and over time, it became ISRO’s most reliable launch vehicle, with a success rate that drew clients from across the globe.

The PSLV’s crowning moment came in February 2017, when it launched 104 satellites in a single mission, shattering the previous world record.

The rocket went on to carry some of ISRO’s most ambitious missions beyond Earth’s orbit. In 2008, PSLV launched Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to the Moon, which famously discovered evidence of water molecules on the lunar surface. Then, in 2013, came the Mars Orbiter Mission — Mangalyaan — which made India the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit and the first in the world to do so in its maiden attempt. At just $74 million, it became a symbol of frugality meeting innovation, earning global admiration.

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Touching the Moon, watching the Sun
If Mangalyaan proved India’s interplanetary capability, the next decade showed its staying power. After Chandrayaan-2’s lander crashed during its 2019 Moon landing attempt, ISRO returned with Chandrayaan-3 in 2023. This time, the Vikram lander touched down flawlessly near the lunar south pole, a feat no other nation had achieved, and the Pragyan rover began exploring the surface, sending back images and data that would deepen lunar science.

In 2023, ISRO also launched Aditya-L1, its first dedicated mission to study the Sun. Placed in a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1, the spacecraft began observing solar winds, flares, and coronal mass ejections, knowledge crucial not just for science, but for protecting satellites and communications on Earth.

These missions weren’t just technological successes, they also set the stage for ISRO’s most ambitious leap yet: sending humans into space.

Navigating challenges beyond the launchpad
India’s path in space has not been without its hurdles which often included geopolitical and racial challenges. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, when ISRO was developing the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), the United States imposed sanctions on India’s space program under technology transfer restrictions.

These sanctions slowed progress and challenged India’s efforts to build indigenous heavy-lift launch capabilities. Yet, instead of succumbing to external pressure, ISRO doubled down on innovation, eventually mastering cryogenic engine technology and launching the GSLV Mark III, which now powers missions like Gaganyaan.

A particularly galling moment came when the New York Times published a cartoon depicting Indian farmers as backward and excluded from the global ‘elite space club.’ The image sparked widespread outrage in India for reducing a complex society to tired stereotypes and undermining the nation’s hard-won scientific achievements.

This was a souring reminder of the prevailing Western prejudices that can distort perceptions of India’s progress.

Gaganyaan: India’s giant leap for mankind
The upcoming Gaganyaan mission represents the culmination of six decades of grit, innovation, and unwavering ambition. Scheduled for launch in late 2025, this human spaceflight program aims to send Indian astronauts, called vyomanauts, into low Earth orbit, marking India’s first crewed mission to space.

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai’s vision remains the guiding star. As India prepares to send its first astronauts into space, that vision of purpose beyond prestige has never been clearer.