From Aryabhata to Chandrayaan: India’s 50-Year Rocket Ride Through Space and Time

A half century after Aryabhata (launched April 19, 1975) was India's first satellite—a "successful failure" that broke the trail for indigenous space technology—the nation has its eyes set on Gaganyaan and a 20-tonne space station by 2035. The Golden Jubilee coincides with Space Technology Day 2025, including planetarium shows on astronaut training and live telescope sessions

 

Landmarks:

 

1980: India's first satellite launched domestically—Rohini

 

2008: Discovery of lunar water by Chandrayaan-1

 

2023: Chandrayaan-3 historic Moon landing

 

2025: Gaganyaan’s first uncrewed test flight

 

ISRO’s roadmap now targets Mars landers (2028) and Venus orbiters (2028), while Assam plans its first observatory under regional space initiatives. “Aryabhata placed India among the elite spacefaring nations—today, we’re scripting interplanetary leadership,” said a Guwahati Planetarium official

 

Source: ISRO, Pragativadi, The Researchers