Indian Space Research organization (ISRO) continues to make history in space science and research that surprises the world that underestimates Indias capability in space and often derides its focus on space when the money could be spent on other pressing needs. This shows the truth and why India is so advanced in space.
Recently India launched 104 satellites into space in a single rocket that broke all records of such effort, putting India far ahead of any country that has a space exploration capability, including NASA. (Most of those satellites belong to the US and the rest from many countries, including the biggest and the heaviest one from India itself)
The complex technology, science and advanced mathematics to achieve this success is beyond the understanding and the ability of most countries that puts India in the elite club of space exploration but it is not Indias first success. India sent a satellite to Mars that takes high definition photos and videos of the Martian surface and does many scientific observations and did so in its very first attempt that no country has succeeded in doing so far in their first attempt.
What is remarkable here is the fact that India sends satellites and orbiters into space at 1/10th the cost of NASA and other countries that have such capabilities, making Indian space effort an economic success story because it attracts clients worldwide who want to benefit from it. This is the reason why so many countries sent their satellites including the USA to India to be sent to space from there and more countries are lining up to do the same.
India now plans to send missions to Jupiter and Saturn in the future and has already sent a rover to the Moon that takes photos and videos and relays them back to India in real time. But the reason why India took to space to develop its own capabilities was because when asked for help from the USA to get satellite coverage during the Pakistan conflicts, USA refused so India decided to make its own satellites.
It is the only country in the world that has its own satellite coverage like that of the GPS and monitors, scans and sends live data back of photos, videos and collects such information continuously. These Indian satellites predict weather, see the glacier melt downs in the Himalayas, monitor wildfires, the forest cover, the pollution level in the atmosphere, land and water from space and numerous other data including that of the defense and offense capabilities of its neighbors in real time.
Indian ISRO is a big organization that employs thousands of the best scientists in India who work tirelessly to achieve success after success surprising the world.
It is not surprising that India is a leader in space research and exploration at low cost and doing it most efficiently. It does so on its own and does not borrow any such technology from other countries. It has developed its own designed and built powerful rockets that take enormous payloads into space flawlessly time and again. It has developed and sent into space a reusable shuttle that can deliver satellites etc. into space and then return to earth to be used again.
Those in the western news media who deride Indias expenses in space do so out of sheer ignorance of the Indian economy that is now a multi-trillion dollar economy and continues to grow at the fastest rate in the world. India spends money in ISRO to develop its own capabilities and also to make money as a business that attracts worldwide clients to make ISRO self-sufficient fiscally. Mostly India does it to be self-reliant in such technology using its own scientists and resources because NASA refused to help when India needed it. It is quite ironic that now the same NASA is eager to participate in the ISRO programs and sends its satellites to be launched by ISRO at a much lower cost.
India is a technologically advanced nation that builds its own aircraft, ships and submarines for defense purposes and spends enormous sums in its Defense and Research Development Organization called DRDO to develop its ability to defend the country at any time from any threat from land, sea or air.