The Indian space agency's 100th mission Sunday marked a milestone for its space programme, underlining its emergence in a select group of nations possessing cutting-edge technologies. A successful launch Sunday morning from the Sriharikota launch centre in southern state of Andhra Pradesh put two foreign satellites into orbit.
The Indian Space Research Organisation is planning ambitious missions, including one to Mars, but is restricted by tight finances. "ISRO's space programme has been focused on research and applications aimed at meeting the economic and social development needs of our country," former ISRO chief Udipi Ramachandra Rao said. He said the agency was successful since the launch of its first satellite in 1975 despite a small budget and embargo on technology transfers due to the country's nuclear tests.
Since then, ISRO has developed sophisticated satellites and a modern series of rockets, including its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
The agency also built one of the world's largest systems of remote sensing and communications satellites beginning 1983.
The 22 satellites in operation are used for broadcasting, weather forecasting and geo-mapping applications for mineral prospecting, managing water, ocean and forest resources and disaster management.
Indian rockets have placed 27 foreign satellites into orbit since 1999, highlighting India's ambitions to become a major player in the commercial space market.
Sunday's launch of the two foreign satellites is estimated to earn 20 million dollars.
India embarked on a new chapter of its programme with an unmanned lunar probe in 2008. The agency said it had achieved 95 per cent of its objectives before it was aborted in August 2009.
NASA instruments on board the craft also discovered water and ice on the lunar surface.
But India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket series has failed on three of its seven launches. The rocket designed to carry heavier payloads is key to future manned space missions and the ability to capture a share of commercial space launches.
The scientific community identifies lack of funds as a key factor hampering the space programme.
ISRO's current 56-billion-rupee (1.1 billion-dollars) budget compares poorly to those of top space agencies, representing just over 5 per cent of the US space agency NASA.
Despite financial constraints, it has moved ahead with plans for deep-space endeavours. Premier Manmohan Singh recently announced a mission to Mars next year.
India intends to place an orbiter above the Red Planet by September 2014 after a voyage of 300 days from Earth. The cost, perhaps the cheapest for such a mission, is estimated around 80 million dollars.
Other ambitious projects include the second lunar mission in 2014, and a manned spaceflight in 2016. The agency also plans to send a satellite to skirt the outer solar atmosphere to gather data about the sun.
"A staggering economy may have put paid to India's hopes of matching the US and China economically, but ISRO is ensuring we remain in the big leagues on the space front at least," a Financial Express editorial said.
But science journalist Kalyan Ray cautioned against exuberance over the Mars mission.
"Little is known about Mars mission as of now," he said. "Without knowing the status of the project, it cannot be said if ISRO will be capable of pulling it through. The targeted time frame is very challenging."
Even with a meagre budget, the Mars mission has drawn criticism in a country suffering from high levels of malnutrition and electricity blackouts.
Space policy planners justify the project as part of its mandate to aid the country's development.
"The technologies developed in space programmes have practical applications to everyday life. Such endeavours should be seen as mankind's quest to find sources for energy, water or rare minerals," Rao said.
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