ISRO Missions and Satellites

The question refers to historical context (likely around 2008). The USA launched the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to study the sun, though other nations have since followed.

Aryabhatta was India's first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1975, using a Kosmos-3M rocket from the Kapustin Yar launch site.

At the time this question was written (circa 2008-2009), ISRO had planned the Chandrayaan-2 mission for 2011. The mission was subsequently delayed and eventually launched in 2019.

India's quest to achieve independence in cryogenic technology for launching satellite launch vehicles suffered a setback on April 15, 2010 with the indigenous cryogenic engine in a Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3) failing to ignite and the vehicle tumbling into the Bay of Bengal 505 seconds after it lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The mission to put communication satellite GSAT-4 in orbit thus ended in failure. The cryogenic technology is crucial to put heavy satellites in geo-synchronous transfer orbit at an altitude of 36,000 km.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) intends to launch the first in a constellation of seven satellites envisaged for the ambitious Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) project, the Indian counterpart of GPS of the US. IRNSS, which will have a range of applications including personal navigation, will be India's answer to the U.S.-operated GPS, Russia's GLONASS, European Space Agency's under-development Galileo, and China's emerging constellation, Compass. The problem with the existing constellations is that they are controlled by defence agencies in those countries. On completion, IRNSS will have all-weather, round-the-clock coverage over the Indian landmass with an extended coverage of about 1,500 km around it.

Scientists on March 2, 2010 detected more than 40 ice-filled craters in the moon's North Pole using data from the Mini-SAR, a radar that flew aboard Chandrayaan-l. The Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini-SAR) is a payload of NASA.

Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian citizen to travel into space, aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11 mission in 1984.

Arvi, located near Pune, is home to India's first satellite earth station, established in 1971.

Chandrayaan-1 was India's first lunar probe, launched by ISRO in 2008.

Chandrayaan-1 was launched into space using the PSLV-C11 launch vehicle.

Chandrayaan-1 was launched by the PSLV-C11 rocket on October 22, 2008.

Chandrayaan-1 was the first Indian lunar probe under the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) program, launched in 2008.

INSAT-4CR was a communication satellite launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in September 2007.

ISRO launched 10 satellites (often cited as 9 small satellites plus the primary) in a single mission using the PSLV-C9 launch vehicle in April 2008.

Sriharikota, ISRO's satellite launch center, is located in Andhra Pradesh. It is situated in the Nellore district along the Bay of Bengal coast. This is where all major ISRO launch vehicles, including PSLV and GSLV, are launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.