The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)(भारतीय अंतरिक्ष अनुसंधान संगठन), is the space agency of the Indian government headquartered in the city of Bengaluru. Its vision is to “harness space technology for national development, while pursuing space science research and planetary exploration”.
Formed in 1969, ISRO superseded the erstwhile Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) established in 1962 by the efforts of independent India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and his close aide and scientist Vikram Sarabhai. The establishment of ISRO thus institutionalised space activities in India.It is managed by the Department of Space, which reports to the Prime Minister of India.
ISRO built India’s first satellite, Aryabhata, which was launched by the Soviet Union on 19 April in 1975. In 1980, Rohini became the first satellite to be placed in orbit by an Indian-made launch vehicle, SLV-3. ISRO subsequently developed two other rockets: the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for launching satellites into polar orbits and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) for placing satellites into geostationary orbits. These rockets have launched numerous communications satellites and earth observation satellites. Satellite navigation systems like GAGAN and IRNSS have been deployed. In January 2014, ISRO successfully used an indigenous cryogenic engine in a GSLV-D5 launch of the GSAT-14.
ISRO sent one lunar orbiter, Chandrayaan-1, on 22 October 2008 and one Mars orbiter, Mars Orbiter Mission, which successfully entered Mars orbit on 24 September 2014, making India the first nation to succeed on its first attempt, and ISRO the fourth space agency in the world as well as the first space agency in Asia to successfully reach Mars orbit.Future plans include development of GSLV Mk III,(for launch of heavier satellites),ULV, development of a reusable launch vehicle, human spaceflight, further lunar exploration, interplanetary probes, a solar spacecraft mission, etc.As of 24 June 2016, ISRO has launched 131 satellites using indigenously developed launch vehicles out of which 74 are foreign. Also, 29 Indian satellites have been launched by foreign launch vehicles.As of October 2015, ISRO has agreed to launch 23 foreign satellites of nine different nations including Algeria, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and the US.On June 18, 2016 India successfully set a record with launch of 20 satellites in a single payload, one being a satellite from Google.
(Ref:plus.google.com & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Space_Research_Organisation)