India's space journey began in 1962 with formation of INCOSPAR: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday said India's space journey began in 1962 with the formation of INCOSPAR which was the result of the farsightedness of Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai, along with enthusiastic support from the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

With Chandrayaan-3 set to touch down on the lunar surface, the opposition party said former prime minister Manmohan Singh started the Chandrayaan programme which was taken forward by the next government. The Congress hoped for the success of the lunar mission.

The ISRO on Wednesday said it is all set to initiate the automatic landing sequence for its ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's lander module to touch down on the lunar surface this evening.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "India's space journey began on February 23, 1962, with the formation of INCOSPAR (Indian National Committee for Space Research)— thanks to the farsightedness of Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai, along with the enthusiastic support of Nehru."

India's space journey began on February 23, 1962, with the formation of INCOSPAR — thanks to the farsightedness of Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai, along with the enthusiastic support of Nehru.

The Committee comprised of top scientists from premier scientific institutions… pic.twitter.com/BT1y234YgS

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 23, 2023

The committee comprised top scientists from premier scientific institutions across the country who came together in a spirit of collaboration and team work, he said.

Ramesh also shared a newspaper report on the formation of INCOSPAR.

In another post, Ramesh said that on December 25 1971, 52-year-old Vikram Sarabhai died suddenly and ISRO faced a serious crisis.

"What happened in the weeks that followed — and that gave ISRO a whole new momentum with Satish Dhawan's entry — is described in these excerpts from my book, 'Intertwined Lives: P.N.Haksar & Indira Gandhi'," he said in the post, sharing screenshots of paragraphs from his book.

On Dec 25 1971, 52-year old Vikram Sarabhai died suddenly. ISRO faced a serious crisis. What happened in the weeks that followed—and that gave ISRO a whole new momentum with Satish Dhawan's entry— is described in these excerpts from my book, Intertwined Lives: P.N.Haksar & Indira… pic.twitter.com/hgxS2EbIvB

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 23, 2023

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Congress leader Rajeev Shukla said the Chandrayaan programme was started under the Manmohan Singh dispensation and the next government took it forward.

"This is the effort of scientists and we want it to be successful," he added.

Responding to a question on BJP claiming credit for Chandrayaan, Shukla said there was an India before 2014 as well and there were contributions from all prime ministers.

The BJP people do not even acknowledge the contribution of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he alleged.

"So there are efforts by all governments. We hope for the mission is successful," he said.