Indian Space Programme
By Maitphang Syiem
“My children, I have a famous scientist with me who wants our church and our church land for the work of space science and research. Science seeks truth that enriches our human life. Spiritual preachers seek the help of the Almighty to bring peace to mankind. In short, what Dr. Sarabhai and I are doing is the same: seeking the Almighty’s blessings for human prosperity. Children, can we give them God’s abode for a scientific mission?” The church reverberated with a chorus of ‘Amen’, and subsequently the Church building became the space science cradle field. The prayer room became the first laboratory; Bishop Rev Dr Perter Bernard Pereira’s house was designated as the design office where scientists assembled India’s first rockets.
The words said by the then Bishop Rev. Dr. Peter Bernard Pereira reminds us of the humble beginning of Indian space science. The consent given by the Bishop and the church members was indeed a sacred contribution to science and nation-building and for that sacrifice eventually later a new church was built in the area around Thumba. Former President Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as a young scientist back then had worked in the church building, he recounted in one of his books “My_Journey_Transforming_Dreams_Into_Actions”. He said “When I think of this event, I can see how enlightened spiritual and scientific leaders work harmoniously for larger goals”. The site undeniably will always remain part of history and at present it houses a space museum preserving early rocket models and honoring the spirit of innovation fostered there.
“Big things often have small beginnings” Indeed this is a profound and timeless truth which also reverberates India’s space journey from St. Mary Magdalene Church in Thumba, a small fishing village in Kerala. This 23rd of August 2025 commemorated as the 2nd National Space Day should remind us of the incredible journey and how things had small beginnings, from the rockets and parts being carried on bicycles and bullock carts and to spacecraft landing on the south pole of the Moon. Truly it is a transcending journey which not only displayed scientific capabilities, but also true grit and to dream beyond limits. “Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.” stated by Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, resonates with the kind of journey that Indian space odyssey had and dear readers, the dream and the commitment by many Indian scientific minds transformed to what it is now.
The founder of the Indian Space Programme Dr. Vikram Sarabhai a versatile scientist, educationist, industrialist with many credits to his name had a rooted vision and dreams to propel Indian Space Programme to many heights for nation building and for the welfare of humans. Interestingly his intentions were not isolated. They became a shared vision and dream which was like a nuclear reactor giving out the energy observed till today. An interesting fact, perhaps a philosophy which he introduced in one of his 1966 speeches titled ‘Sources of man’s knowledge’, was ‘leap-frogging’ which technically translates into an approach of technology development and utilisation by leaping and applying space research to remove socio-economic problems and propel national development, this literally means bypassing intermediate stages of technological development by directly adopting advanced space technologies to uplift India’s rural and socio-economically disadvantaged populations by integrating science with nation-building and peaceful progress. Dr Vikram Sarabhai was instrumental in his approach for the peaceful uses of outer space. Back then he served as the Vice-President and Scientific Chairman of UNISPACE-I (1968) (United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space).
Sarabhai once said “There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flights. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society. Interestingly that shared vision kept leaping from one stage to another and we have reached a level where we have become a leading nation in space science, technology and space applications not just for ourselves but also collaborating with many other space faring nations and agencies.
From the 1960’s onwards till the present day we can see that India’s ISRO has collaborated in many space activities with top space agencies of the world such as NASA (US) CNES (France), JAXA(Japan), ESA(European Union) , DLR (Germany), ROSCOMOS (Russia), ISA(Israel). Just as how you’ll always find an Indian restaurant around every corner in any part of the world, India has quietly but surely sprinkled its own special spices and touch in the world of space technology, sharing its unique blend of creativity and passion with nations everywhere. The feat accomplished by Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla after 41 years is worth mentioning. He became the 2nd Indian in space and the first in the ISS (International Space Station).
It’s indeed another leapfrogging and great learning for ISRO’s Ganganayan mission (Human Spaceflight). Furthermore, the most recent collaboration of the Indian Space Programme is with NASA in an Earth Observation mission called NISAR, (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar). Interestingly after a decade the mission was successfully launched on July 30, 2025 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota by ISRO’s GSLV-F16. The dual frequency microwave data from NISAR will definitely be a great boon in a wide range of applications in the field of Ecosystem and Vegetation Monitoring, Cryosphere studies, Land surface topography, Natural Disasters Management, Agriculture & Forestry and Climate Change studies.
Having mentioned all the aspects sprouting from a dream, a vision, leapfrogging and observing those dreams translated into realistic actions, what could be the key takeaways for us? What we could get from Indian Space saga is that our State our people and youth leaderships must have a rooted shared and a collective participatory vision and dream and the vision should sync whether from bottom to top or vice versa. Unless we have a common shared dream we cannot propel or leapfrog stages of development in terms of Education, Health, Environment, Social, Governance (ESG), Economy, Employment, Democracy and many more.
Dear readers, don’t we need to introspect on such key parameters? What can be the shared vision and dreams for our State so as to enable us to leapfrog to higher levels of developments and to keep igniting visions just like a nuclear chain reaction. We have a blessed and beautiful State deeply rooted in culture and traditions and filled with immense natural diversity. It’s imperative that we realise that Rome wasn’t built in a day. In spite of many challenges we need to have a common vision to go the extra mile, break new grounds and move onward and upward. To conclude, let us ponder on what Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam said, “One must keep dreaming at various phases of life, and then work hard to realize those dreams. If we do so, then success is imminent. To the many people I meet I always say, ‘Dreams are not those that we see in our sleep; they should be the ones that never let us sleep”.
(The writer is a Geospatial Technology Expert and Space Science Enthusiast)