4. The Early 80s

To provide satellite communication services to the country at the earliest, INSAT-1 (four satellites) was procured from the USA. INSAT-1A launched on 10 April 1982 failed in the first eclipse. INSAT-1B launched a year later brought a satellite communication revolution in the country, spreading TV coverage across the length and breadth of the country, enabling V-SAT communication, meteorology data from VHRR and services like Search and Resque. Launch vehicle SLV-3 started flying in 1979. Though the first few flights were not successful, the second development flight carrying RSD2 brought it to an operational level. Each of these missions had an experimental satellite. The Augmented SLV (ASLV) with added strapons enhanced the capability to 150 Kg and a new satellite bus Stretched Rohini Series (SROSS) was developed. This was used as an opportunity for space science and scientific payloads were added to SROSS missions. Since SLV-3 and ASLV were small to carry state-of-the-art remote sensing payloads, development of PSLV was initiated as a major initiative of ISRO.