From Bicycles To The Moon, Mars & Beyond

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In the middle of the 20th century, humanity looked to the heavens in a way it never had before. The first half of the century had been marked by two world wars, and the second half opened with a new kind of tension — the Cold War. Two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, turned their rivalry into an arms race, a propaganda war and perhaps most ambitiously, a space race.

For most countries, these feats were the stuff of science fiction. The costs were astronomical. The technology, closely guarded. Space, it seemed, was the playground of the wealthy.

But in the 1960s, one newly independent nation refused to accept the role of passive observer. Still recovering from centuries of colonial exploitation, India dared to ask: why should space be the privilege of the rich?

Could a country with limited resources, but limitless determination, reach for the stars?

Sarabhai's choice for the country's first launch site was unexpected: Thumba, a sleepy fishing village in Kerala. The location was perfect for studying the Earth's magnetic field because it lay close to the magnetic equator.

But there were no laboratories, no control rooms and certainly no launch towers.

After that symbolic first launch, India's ambitions grew. On the anniversary of independence in 1969, Incospar evolved into the Indian Space Research Organisation — Isro. The goal was now institutionalised: develop space technology for the benefit of India, while building the capacity for bigger scientific missions.

In 1975, Isro built and launched Aryabhatt, its first satellite. Although it hitched a ride on a Soviet rocket, the satellite was Indian through and through — designed, engineered and tested by Isro scientists. For a country just finding its feet in space technology, it was a proud moment.