Quick Revision for General Scientific Technological Development for Competitive Exam NTPC(RRB) -June 2025. RRB exams have started. This may help in revising by just spending few minutes to cover important points for the Exams.
General Scientific and Technological Development – Space and Nuclear Program of India
- Science and Technology have always been an integral part of Indian culture.
- The Department of Science and Technology plays a pivotal role in promoting science and technology in India.
- The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) was set up in 1985.
- The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research was established in September 1942.
- The Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was set up in 1962.
- INCOSPAR grew and became ISRO in 1969.
- ISRO was founded on 15 August 1969 to develop an independent Indian space program.
- ISRO’s headquarters are in Bangalore.
- In 1972, the Government of India set up a Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS), bringing ISRO under DOS.
- India launched its first low orbit satellite Aryabhata in 1975.
- The launch vehicle for Aryabhata was provided by the erstwhile Soviet Union.
- Antrix Corporation is the marketing arm of ISRO, located in Bengaluru.
- NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) is ISRO’s commercial arm.
- Rohini became the first satellite placed in orbit by an Indian-made launch vehicle (SLV-3) in 1980.
- APPLE was India’s first communication satellite, launched in 1981.
- The Vikram Sarabhai Space Center is located in Trivandrum.
- The Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) is located in Sriharikota.
- The U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) is located in Bengaluru.
- The Space Applications Centre is located in Ahmedabad.
- The National Remote Sensing Centre is located in Hyderabad.
- India has two operational launch vehicles: PSLV and GSLV.
- PSLV stands for Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
- GSLV stands for Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.
- PSLV was developed to launch Low Earth Orbit satellites into Polar and Sun Synchronous Orbits.
- PSLV is known as ‘the Workhorse of ISRO‘.
- The maximum number of satellites launched by PSLV in a single launch is 104, in the PSLV-C37 launch on 15 February 2017.
- GSLV was developed to launch heavier INSAT class satellites into orbit.
- GSLV-Mk III is capable of launching four-tonne satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit.
- A Geostationary orbit is a circular orbit 35,785 km above Earth’s Equator where a satellite’s orbital period equals Earth’s rotation period.
- The Indian National Satellite System (INSAT) is a series of multipurpose geostationary satellites.
- INSAT satellites satisfy needs like telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology, and search-and-rescue in India.
- The Indian Remote Sensing satellites (IRS) are a series of Earth observation satellites.
- The South Asia Satellite (GSAT-9) is a geosynchronous communications satellite for the SAARC region.
- The South Asia Satellite was launched on 5 May 2017.
- IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system developed by India.
- IRNSS has the operational name NAVIC.
- NAVIC provides accurate position information to users in India and up to 1500 km from its borders.
- Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) is India’s first interplanetary mission.
- Mangalyaan was launched on November 5, 2013, by PSLV-C25.
- Mangalyaan was inserted into Martian orbit on September 24, 2014.
- India is the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit.
- India is the first nation in the world to reach Martian orbit on its maiden attempt.
- Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first mission to the Moon.
- Chandrayaan-1 was launched successfully on October 22, 2008, from Sriharikota.
- The launch vehicle for Chandrayaan-1 was PSLV – C11.
- Mylswamy Annadurai was the Project Director for Chandrayaan-1.
- G. Madhavan Nair was the ISRO Chairman at the time of Chandrayaan-1 launch.
- The Government of India approved the proposal for Chandrayaan-1 in November 2003.
- Chandrayaan-2 is the second lunar exploration mission by ISRO.
- The launch vehicle for Chandrayaan-2 is GSLV Mk-III.
- Chandrayaan-2 was launched on 22 July 2019 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
- K Sivan was the ISRO Chairman at the time of Chandrayaan-2 launch.
- Chandrayaan-2’s Rover was a 6-wheeled robotic vehicle named Pragyan.
- Pragyan translates to ‘wisdom’ in Sanskrit.
- Chandrayaan-3 is a planned mission, repeating Chandrayaan-2’s attempt for a soft lunar landing.
- Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft for the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.
- The Gaganyaan spacecraft is designed to carry three people.
- Russia will train Indian astronauts for the Gaganyaan mission.
- The launch vehicle for Gaganyaan is GSLV Mk-III.
- Shri R Hutton is the Project Director of Gaganyaan.
- Aditya- L1 is India’s first solar mission.
- Shukrayaan-1 is a proposed orbiter to Venus by ISRO.
- Mangalyaan -2 is India’s second interplanetary mission planned for launch to Mars.
- NISAR is a joint project between NASA and ISRO.
- The NISAR satellite will be the first radar imaging satellite to use dual frequencies.
- Aryabhata was launched by the C-1 Intercosmos launch vehicle on Apr 19, 1975.
- Rohini Satellite RS-1 was launched by SLV-3E2 on Jul 18, 1980.
- Chandrayaan-1 was launched by PSLV-C11 on Oct 22, 2008.
- The Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft was launched by PSLV-C25 on Nov 05, 2013.
- Chandrayaan2 was launched by GSLV-Mk III – M1 on Jul 22, 2019.
- Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to enter into space on 2nd April, 1984.
- Rakesh Sharma was a pilot selected as a ‘Cosmonaut’ in a joint space program between India and Soviet Russia.
- Kalam Sat is the world’s smallest satellite, weighing 64 grams.
- Kalam Sat was built by a team of high school students led by Rifath Sharook.
- Kalam Sat was launched by NASA on 22nd June 2017.
- NASA was established on 1st October 1958.
- NASA’s headquarters are located at Washington, USA.
- Apollo Missions are popular missions of NASA that enabled American Astronauts to land on the Moon.
- Apollo-11 was the first ‘Man Landing Mission’ to the moon.
- Apollo-11 landed on the Moon on 20th July 1969.
- Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the surface of the Moon.
- Kalpana Chawla was born on 17th March 1962 in Karnal, Punjab.
- Kalpana Chawla joined NASA in 1988.
- Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian woman astronaut to go to space, taking part in the Colombia Shuttle Mission in 1997.
- The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system is one of the largest domestic communication satellite systems in Asia-Pacific.
- The INSAT system has nine operational communication satellites in Geo-stationary orbit.
- GAGAN stands for GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation.
- GAGAN is a Space Based Augmentation System (SBAS) jointly developed by ISRO and AAI.
- GAGAN provides GPS signal corrections for better position accuracy.
- GNSS is a general term for any satellite constellation providing positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services.
- Examples of Global Navigation Satellite Systems include GPS (USA), BeiDou / BDS (China), Galileo (Europe), GLONASS (Russia), IRNSS / NavIC (India), and QZSS (Japan).
- The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was established on 3 August 1954.
- The DAE is directly under the Prime Minister of India.
- The headquarters of the DAE are in Mumbai.
- India’s three-stage nuclear power program was formulated by Homi Bhabha in 1954.
- The program aims to secure energy independence using uranium and thorium reserves in India.
- Stage one of the nuclear program develops natural uranium fuelled Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors.
- Stage two aims at utilizing plutonium-based fuels in fast breeder reactors.
- Stage three focuses on developing advanced nuclear power systems for thorium utilization.
- Homi J Bhabha is known as the father of India’s nuclear program.
- APSARA was the first nuclear reactor in India and Asia.
- APSARA was designed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) with assistance from the United Kingdom.
- Nuclear power is the fourth-largest source of electricity in India.
- Tarapur Atomic Power Plant-1 (TAPS-1) is the first Nuclear Power Station in India.
- Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) operates commercial nuclear power reactors in India.
- NPCIL is presently operating 22 commercial nuclear power reactors with an installed capacity of 6780 MW.
- Nuclear power stations in India include Kaiga, Kakrapar, Kudankulam, Madras (Kalpakkam), Narora, Rajasthan, and Tarapur.
- APSARA, CIRRUS, and DHRUVA are research reactors at Trombay used for research, isotope production, material testing, and training.
- The Apsara Reactor was permanently shut down in 2010.
- Kamini is a research reactor at the Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research in Kalpakkam.
- KAMINI is currently the only reactor in the world designed specifically to use Uranium-233 fuel.
- India is a leading producer of radioisotopes in the world.
- Nuclear medicine is an integral part of modern healthcare, using radioisotopes for diagnosis and therapy.
- The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) has its headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal.
- The ISCA started in 1914 in Kolkata.
- The 107th Indian Science Congress (ISC) was inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri.Narendra Modi on January 3, 2020, in Bengaluru.
- The theme of the 107th Indian Science Congress was “Science and Technology: Rural Development”.
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