Scientific Research
About 6 min · General Knowledge and General Awareness · English
Time worked out from the lesson's 430 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.
This topic tests your awareness of recent satellite launches, missile programmes, major research centres and their roles, plus notable achievements like Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan and Gaganyaan. Questions often ask for organisation headquarters, mission years, names of missiles or satellites, and the purpose of a specific mission. Mastery here means remembering the what, when and why of each mission, not intricate technical details.
Key ideas
- ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is India's premier space agency headquartered in Bengaluru. It conducts satellite launches, planetary missions and develops launch vehicles (PSLV, GSLV) for civilian and commercial purposes.
- DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) is headquartered in New Delhi and focuses on defence technology—missiles, radars, armaments, naval systems and strategic systems. Key programmes include Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
- Chandrayaan missions are lunar exploration projects. Chandrayaan-1 (2008) discovered water molecules on the Moon; Chandrayaan-2 (2019) aimed for a soft landing near the South Pole (orbiter succeeded, lander lost contact); Chandrayaan-3 (2023) achieved a successful soft landing.
- Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter Mission, 2013) made India the first Asian nation and the first country globally to reach Mars orbit in its maiden attempt. It orbits Mars and studies surface features and atmosphere.
- Gaganyaan is India's upcoming human spaceflight programme aiming to send Indian astronauts (vyomanauts) to low Earth orbit by 2025. Test flights and crew module recoveries have already been conducted.
Watch out for
- Confusing Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3: Students often remember "Chandrayaan-2 landed successfully" because of media coverage. Fix: Chandrayaan-2's lander (Vikram) lost contact; only Chandrayaan-3 achieved a soft landing in 2023.
- Mixing ISRO and DRDO roles: Thinking DRDO launches satellites or ISRO develops missiles. Fix: ISRO = space missions; DRDO = defence R&D including missiles, radars and weapon systems.
- Forgetting mission years: Writing "Mangalyaan was launched in 2014" instead of 2013. Fix: Launch and orbit insertion are different events. Mangalyaan launched November 2013, entered Mars orbit September 2014.
Quick reference
- ISRO HQ: Bengaluru; DRDO HQ: New Delhi.
- Chandrayaan-1 (2008): discovered lunar water; Chandrayaan-3 (2023): first South Pole soft landing.
- Mangalyaan (2013 launch): India's Mars orbiter, first Asian nation to Mars, maiden-attempt success.
- Gaganyaan: India's human spaceflight programme, target ~2025.
- BrahMos: Indo-Russian supersonic cruise missile, Mach 2.8–3.0 speed.
Check yourself: 3 questions
1. Which Indian space mission was the first to successfully place a spacecraft in orbit around Mars?
2. The Agni series of missiles developed by DRDO are primarily classified as which type of missiles?
3. Chandrayaan-3, launched by ISRO in July 2023, successfully achieved a soft landing on the Moon's surface in which region?
This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 18 Oct 2026: an AI-assisted check of this note against cited sources; the errors it found were corrected that day. Some errors may remain. The questions are from Shishya's validated question bank.
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