GA Topper Series: Space Exploration Mission

ISRO: Indian Space Resource Organisation

ISRO Founded: 15 August 1969

ISRO Headquarters: Bengaluru

ISRO Chairman: S Somanath

1. NewSpace India Limited is the private arm of ISRO. The commercial arm of ISRO, NSIL was established in March 2019 and is a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Department of Space (DOS).
2. NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) launched GSAT-24, following the space reforms leasing the entire satellite’s capacity to Direct-to-Home (DTH) service provider Tata Play.GSAT-24 is a 4180 kg 24-Ku band communication satellite that provides pan-India coverage for DTH application requirements.
3. Dr S Somanath, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), inaugurated ANANTH Technologies’ spacecraft manufacturing unit at Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) Aero
4. The Indian Space Research Organisation will send a spacecraft to orbit Venus to study what lies below its surface by 2029 named Shukrayan
5. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully completed the ground test of the solid fuel-based booster stage (SS1) of its new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).
6. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is organizing a special program for school children called “YUva VIgyani KAryakram” (YUVIKA) or “Young Scientist Programme”. Aimed at creating awareness about emerging trends in science and technology, this program is expected to encourage more students to pursue research and a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
7. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched an Earth Observation Satellite, EOS-04, and two small satellites into the intended orbit.
8. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has decommissioned the INSAT-4B, an Indian communications satellite that forms part of the Indian National Satellite System. The INSAT-4B underwent Post Mission Disposal (PMD) at the end of its service, followed by decommissioning on January 24. INSAT-4B is the 21st Indian Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite to undergo post-mission disposal, the required propellant for such re-orbiting was included in the initial fuel budget as a part of standard practice followed in ISRO’s GEO mission planning.
9. Mars Orbiter Mission: MOM
10. Chandaryan: moon Mission
11. Gaganyan: The mission will also lay the foundation for a sustained Indian human space exploration program. With its manned space mission in 2023, India aims to become the fourth nation to send humans to space after US, Russia, and China 

NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA administrator: Bill Nelson;

Headquarters of NASA: Washington D.C., United States;

NASA Founded: 1 October 1958.

NOAA Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States

NOAA Founder: Richard Nixon

NOAA Founded: 3 October 1970

1. The NASA researchers successfully launched the CAPSTONE spacecraft to the moon from New Zealand. Mission CAPSTONE stands for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment. With a price tag of just shy of $30 million, NASA hopes the mission will verify that a specific type of moon orbit is suitable for the lunar Gateway space station that the agency aims to launch later this decade.
2. NASA is set to launch a mission called “DAVINCI Mission”. DAVINCI stands for “Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry and Imaging Mission”  The mission will fly by Venus and explore its harsh atmosphere in 2029
3. US space agency, NASA, successfully launched the third in a series of four next-generation weather satellites, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES).
4. CubeSat Laser Infrared CrosslinK (CLICK) mission will demonstrate the technology to advance the state of the art in communications between small spacecraft as well as the capability to gauge their relative distance and location.

CNSA: China National Space Administration 

Founded on 22 April 1993

Headquarter: Beijing

1. Three new remote sensing satellites were successfully launched by China from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the Sichuan Province in southwest China. The satellites were launched by a Long March-2D carrier rocket at 10:22 a.m. (local time) as part of the Yaogan-35 family and successfully entered the intended orbit.
2. China successfully launched a new Earth observation satellite Gaofen-3 03  from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on board a Long March-4C rocket.

South Korea

South Korea sent its first satellite into orbit using a domestic Nuri rocket. South Korea launched its first satellite successfully using a homegrown rocket, boosting the nation’s expanding aerospace ambitions

Answer the following expected questions in the comment section:

1. Nuri rocket is of which country?
2. The first mission of ISRO?
3. How many countries have sent human exploration missions?