INDIAIndia has an active space program that concentrates on the development of aerospace technology and on direct economic
applications of such technology. It also makes use of communications
satellites for nationwide educational systems. The Department of Space, established in the early 1970s, has the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as a major unit. Various development facilities exist around India, with launch sites at Sriharikota, north of Madras on the eastern coast, and at Trivandrum, at the southern end of India.Prior to achieving its own launch capability in 1980, India had a number of satellites orbited by the Soviet Union and the United States, and in 1981 a test communications satellite named Apple was successfully launched by an Ariane rocket. India's first rocket, the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV), has been used for sending India's small Rohini satellites into orbit, and the nation is developing an augmented version with four times the payload. A still larger version of the SLV is also being developed for launching payloads into polar orbit.In manned programs, an Indian pilot took part in a Soyuz visit to the Salyut 7 space station in 1984. Two other Indian engineers were selected in 1985 to train as payload specialists on a Space Shuttle
mission, but the mission was subsequently canceled.