India is fast progressing in the field of space research. It is emerging as a big name in this field. The country is now capable of launching its own spacecraft. In fact, it offers this service to many other countries. Now India has made landmark progress with the launch of Chandrayaan for its moon mission. India started its space programme with the launch of first space satellite "Aryabhatta" on April 19, 1975. This space satellite was named after the great Indian astronomer and mathematician of the 5th century, Aryabhatta. It was launched from a soviet cosmodrome with the help of a Soviet rocket. It marked India's giant leap and made her the eleventh country to join the space club. The second satellite "Bhaskara" was launched on June 7, 1979. It was also launched from a Soviet cosmodrome. It was named after two eminent personalities: Bhaskara I and Bhaskara II. It was followed by "Rohini." It was the first Indian satellite put into the space by SLV-III, an Indian rocket. It was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on July 9, 1980. It was developed by the scientists of ISRO. It was the success of the mission of SLV-III which brought recognition to the space programme of India.
India's fourth satellite Rohini II was launched by the launch vehicle SLV-III from Sriharikota on May 31, 1981. It was designed to provide useful data for 300 days. It was weighted 38 kg. It was known as India's first development rocket flight. Unfortunately, it burnt in space on June 8, 1981, without completing its mission. Bhaskara II, India's fifth satellite in space, was launched on November 20, 1981 from Soviet cosmodrome Volgograd. It was the earth observation satellite. It was a milestone in the space journey of India as it brought to India the honour of being a space nation.
Apple, an experimental geostationary communication satellite, was launched on June 19, 1981. It was launched with French coordination.