Billions of years ago, Big Bang happened, and this universe came into existence from a dark singularity, and it kept expanding and certainly, it will keep expanding until it collapses again into Singularity, bringing an end to everything from Planets to Galaxies. But before that happens, we will keep studying it. And to accomplish this goal of ours, we have dedicated various space research centers to this purpose.
The early era of space exploration starting in the 1950s was
driven by a ‘space race’ between the United States and the Soviet Union. As of
today, many nations have their space research agencies and many privately run
organization.
There are more than 70 space organizations coordinated by
their respective governments and tons of private companies engaged in the race
of space exploration and every space organization has different levels of
accomplishments. In terms of their achievements, capabilities, and annual
budget, some of them are far ahead of others.
In this article, we are going to get acquainted with the top
five space exploration agencies in the world. Apart from their main purpose of
space exploration these agencies also have other objectives like observing
Earth.
Here are the top 5 space exploration agencies of the world;
5)Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
 |
| ISRO logo |
In India, the growing demand for telecommunication is
fulfilled by a series of multipurpose geostationary satellites known as INSAT
(Indian National Satellite System) which are maintained by the ISRO.
Unlike NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration),
ISRO is known for its cost-efficient and reliable launch system. Down below are a few accomplishments and
achievements of ISRO;
·
In 2004, in their very first attempt, they
successfully sent a spacecraft to Mars. It was the most cost-efficient Mars
mission ever with a total cost of US$75 million only.
·
In 2008, India successfully launched their first
lunar probe, using a PSLV-XI rocket, with an estimated expenditure of US$54
million.
·
ISRO also has a world record for launching 104
satellites in one go, in 2017. These satellites were launched using the
PSLV-C37 rocket.
Overview:
·
Established: 15 August 1969; 52 years ago.
·
Headquarters: Banglore, Karnataka, India.
·
Employees: 17,099 (2021)
·
Annual Budget: US$2.0 billion (2021-22)
·
Website: www.isro.gov.in
4) Russian Federation Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS)
 |
| ROSCOSMON Logo |
Coming on the fourth position is the Russian space agency The Roscosmos State
Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos. Its main purpose
is space flights, cosmonautics programs, and Aerospace Research.
It
was established in 1992, initially known as the Russian Space Agency. In 1999,
it was restructured and named the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, and later
in 2004, it became the Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS). The current
form of ROSCOSMOS has formed only six years ago in 2005 after the former
ROSCOSMOS was merged with the Russian government corporation United Rocket and
Space Corporation. Its headquarters are located In Moscow and its main mission
control center is located in Korolyou (a neighboring city to Moscow).
Apart
from monitoring Earth and conducting astronaut projects, it also coordinates
military launches in Russia with the Defence Minister of the Russian Federation
(Russia)
Although
ROSCOSMOS was formed very recently(as Russian Space Agency) Russia’s
contribution to the space race long predates these events as Soviet Space
Program. In the 1950s and 60s, Russia launched various space missions,
including the Sputnik-1—the first artificial Earth Satellite, Yuri Gagarin and
Valentina Tereshkova—the first man and woman in space, Lunar 1—the first spacecraft
to reach the vicinity of Earth’s Moon and Voskhod 1—the first space flight to
carry more than one crewman into orbit.
Currently,
ROSCOSMOS in collaboration with ESA is working on EXOMars Mission to find
evidence of life on Mars.
Overview
Established: 25 February 1992; 29 years ago
Headquarters: Moscow, Russia
Annual Budget: US$ 2.77 billion(2020)
Website: www.roscosmos.ru
3)European Space Agency(ESA)
 |
| ESA Logo |
ESA is an international organization formed by 22 different
member states. It was established in 1975 with the purpose of space
exploration. Its headquarters are located in Paris and have a worldwide staff
of 2200(2018). ESA operated on an annual budget of ~US$ 7.6 billion as of 2021.
ESA also provides a major contribution to the International Space Station(ISS).
ESA’s main space programs include Earth Observation, Unmanned mission to
explore other planets and Moon, and human spaceflight. Its objectives also
include telecommunication and designing launch vehicles. ESA also has
collaborated with NASA for various space missions including Cassini, which has
been orbiting Saturn since 2004. Other ESA’s space programs include the Study
of Gravitational waves using LISA pathfinder—launched on 3 December 2015, and a
mission to Venus namely Venus express, which was launched in 2005 and reached
Venus in 2006 and has been continuously sending back data from its polar orbit
around Venus. Venus Express is ESA’s first Venus exploration mission.
European Space Agency’s future program includes the JUICE—a
Jupiter exploration mission, Athena—a large class mission expected to launch in
2028, Euclid—which is a mission to map the geometry of the Universe and better
understand the mysterious dark energy and Dark Matter, and a mission to Mercury
called Bepcolambo in collaboration with Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency(JAXA—the national space exploration agency of Japan).
Overview
Established: 30 May 1975; 46 years ago
Headquarters: Paris, France
Annual Budget: ~US$ 7.6 billion (2021)
Website: www.esa.int
2)China National Space Administration(CNSA)
 |
| CNSA Logo |
CNSA is the national space exploration agency of China, with
headquarters in Beijing. CNSA might have been formed recently but its achievements
in space exploration are vast.
It is the first space exploration agency to launch on the far
side of the Moon and the second agency to land a rover on Mars successfully,
after NASA. They also have a small space station. They have also conducted several
manned space missions and so far, 11 Chinese astronauts have traveled in Space.
Overview
Established: 22 April 1993
Headquarters: Haidian district, Beijing, China
Annual Budget: ~US$ 11 billion(2018 est)
Website: www.cnsa.gov.cn
1)National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA)
 |
| NASA Logo |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) is the
national space agency of the United States of America, established in 1958 and
for the past 6 decades, they have led many space exploration missions with huge
success. Making many discoveries about the Universe, Galaxies, Exoplanets,
Inter-solar system planets, and, of course, about our beautiful planet Earth.
Their main purpose includes developing space technology for
space exploration, studying the origin of Earth, Solar System, and Universe,
Aeronautics Research for developing advanced technology and manned Space
programs, space communication, and space transportation.
Since its launch in 1958, it has led most of the US space
exploration missions including the first Human Moon landing. NASA is also
leading a major contribution to International Space Station(ISS).
NASA has successfully launched more than 200 manned space
missions with 70 more missions in progress.
Some of NASA’s greatest missions are;
Apollo, Hubble Telescope, Viking 1 probe, Skylab, Gemini,
Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cassini, Voyager-1, Voyager-2, and a mission to
Mercury.
They operate on an annual budget of US$ 22.629 billion as of
2020.
Overview
Established: July 29, 1958; 63 years ago
Headquarters: Washington, D.C, USA
Employees: 17373(2020)
Annual budget: US$ 22.629 billion(2020)
Website: www.nasa.gov
That was all about the five major space exploration agencies.
Source: Internet
Follow us on Social Media
Thanks for reading!