Proud Of ISRO & DRDO: 11 Times India's Scientists Made All Of Us Truly Proud On World Stage

Yesterday, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) hit a milestone and made the country proud.

The two successfully tested a missile that allows us to target threats in orbit around the earth, making us a space superpower through Mission Shakti's ASAT technology.

DRDO

So here we recount recent major contributions made by ISRO and DRDO to keep India on the cutting edge of scientific and strategic breakthroughs in the matters of space exploration and national security.

1. Robot sentry

In 2017, the DRDO unveiled RoboSen, a robot that could be used for security at crucial government or military facilities. It was basically a mobile automaton that could be remotely controlled or set to a patrol path. Then, it would use its camera and sensors to photograph suspicious objects and the like and relay it to a nearby wireless command center.

2. Self-ejecting black box

In an aircraft, the black box stores data from the plane so that, in the event of a crash or other interference, a cause can be determined. However, it's not always possible to find the black box in the event of a crash, or if a flight has just gone missing. DRDO therefore developed a black box capable of ejecting itself in the event a plane crashes, and initiating a distress beacon when in contact with water.

DRDO

3. Unmanned tank

That same year the defense group debuted Muntra, an unmanned tank. In three versions, for surveillance, mine detection and reconnaissance, it could be remotely operated from 15km away.

4. Rustom Drone

Early last year, DRDO successfully tested India's home-built military drone on its maiden flight. Rustom 2, as it was named, was built to replace imported drones from the US and Israel as an unmanned aerial surveillance vehicle.

5. EMISAT

The EMISAT is yet to be launched next month, but it will be another milestone for DRDO. Aside from collecting topographical imagery, the satellite will also be capable of detecting enemy communication systems.

ISRO

6. Mangalyaan mission

Not only was the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) India's first major foray into space, it also broke other records. For one, it was the cheapest space mission to Mars ever, with ISRO spending only Rs 2.61 crore of a Rs 460 crore budget.

7. GSAT

Thanks to the GSAT satellite network still being launched by ISRO, India should eventually be able to get up to 100Gbps Internet. Additionally, the network is also designed to augment the communication and surveillance capabilities of the Indian military, among other things.

ISRO

8. HySIS

The first Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite for India was launched by ISRO late last year. And advanced earth-observation satellite, it has a range of applications like agriculture, forestry, soil survey, geology, coastal zones, inland water studies, environmental studies and detection of pollution from industries, not to mention military surveillance.

9. Venus Satellite

Among ISRO's planned missions is one to send a satellite to Venus in 2023. Since they're planning it to be as frugal as possible, ISRO has also invited other countries and research groups to send their own satellites on the rocket.

ISRO

10. Gaganyaan manned mission

Before that however, ISRO has planned to make India's first manned spaceflight in 2022, just three years from now. It will carry a three-man team of "Vyomnauts" (including one woman) into low-earth orbit, where they will stay for at least a week, and then return them to Earth.

11. Mission Shakti

And finally, with yesterday's Mission Shakti announcement, DRDO and ISRO successfully launched an Agni V missile to shoot down a live Indian satellite 300 km into the low earth orbit, a feat described as more difficult than shooting a moving bullet through another bullet. In doing so, India joined an elite club of nations with this kind of space munitions capability -- US, Russia and China.