ehru nor Prof. Sarabhai had any ambiguity of purpose.

Their vision was very clear: if Indians were

to play meaningful role in the community of nations, they must be second to none in the
application of advanced technologies to their real-life problems. They had no intention of using it
merely as a means of displaying our miVery many individuals with myopic vision questioned the
relevance of space activities in a newly independent nation which was finding it difficult to feed
its population. But neither Prime Minister Nehru nor Prof. Sarabhai had any ambiguity of
purpose. Their vision was very clear: if Indians were to play meaningful role in the community of
nations, they must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to their real-
life problems. They had no intention of using it merely as a means of displaying our might.

— A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, [35]

India's economic progress has made its space program more visible and active as the country
aims for greater self-reliance in space technology.[36] In 2008, India launched as many as eleven
satellites, including nine foreign and went on to become the first nation to launch ten satellites
on one rocket.[36] ISRO has put into operation two major satellite systems: the Indian National
Satellites (INSAT) for communication services, and the Indian Remote Sensing Programme (IRS)
satellites for management of natural resources.

INCOSPAR was established in 1962 by Jawaharlal Nehru

INCOSPAR was established in 1962 by Jawaharlal Nehru

In July 2012, Abdul Kalam said that research was being done by ISRO and DRDO for developing
cost-reduction technologies for access to space.[37]

Organisation structure and facilities

The organisational structure of the Department of Space of the Government of India

ISRO is managed by the Department of Space (DoS) of the Government of India. DoS itself falls
under the authority of the Space Commission and manages the following agencies and
institutes:[38][39][40]

Indian Space Research Organisation

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram.

Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Thiruvananthapuram.

Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), Sriharikota.

ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri.

ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bengaluru.

Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad.

National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad.

ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU), Thiruvananthapuram.

Development and Educational Communication Unit (DECU), Ahmedabad.

Master Control Facility (MCF), Hassan, Karnataka.

ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bengaluru.

Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS), Bengaluru.

Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun.

Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC), Bengaluru.

Directorate of Space Situational Awareness and Management, Peenya, Bengaluru.