Earth observations have played a prominent role in the majority of Indian satellites launched to date. Two of the three space launches attempted by India during 1993-1994 carried Earth observation spacecraft under the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) program. IRS-1E in 1993 and IRS-P2 in 1994. This followed the launch of three Indian remote sensing spacecraft (by India, the USSR, and ESA) during the previous 2-year period. The scientific secretary of the Indian Space Research Organization, M.G. Chandrasekhar, is also the Director for Earth Observation programs.