23/08/2026
“Touching hearts while touching the moon” Acclaimed India on the 23rd of August 2023, while rejoicing in the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, as we became not only the 4th nation to achieve a soft landing, but also the first country to achieve a soft landing in the Moon’s southern polar region.
But India did not always have such a glorious past, being a country with extreme poverty, devastating famines, and a lack of basic essentials of life. This made it extremely difficult to think about anything other than survival. After all, it wasn't in its power for as long as around 500 years, but this was far from enough to stop the minds of Indians from exploring the depths of space. Minds, like those of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, who not only shaped but also transformed India's space journey into a global spectacle. With that came the launch of the first truly indigenous rocket, 'the Rohini-75 (RH-75)' in the year 1967 on 20th November, and then the first mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1, in 2008 on 22nd October. The key driving force behind all these explorations was an organization with immense enthusiasm and determination from the top scientists of the country, which make India's space exploration expeditions possible: ISRO, or the 'Indian Space Research Organisation'.
The journey since then has been far from easy, but we have far more places to explore. Work is underway on Chandrayaan-4, aimed at collecting samples from the Moon. The Gaganyaan mission, the Venus Orbiter Mission, and others are also in progress. These missions may not provide immediate returns, but their impact will leave an essence in the history of India’s space programme.
The rise of Indian space research and development has just begun, and its upcoming achievements will prove that being limited in finances for almost everything in life isn't so much of a bad thing. After all, believing in wings of our own is a decision far better than to trust the branch which we think of resting upon.
Caption Written by Vaadasabha Member - Ronit Roy ✨