Isro Successfully Launched India’s First Astrosat

Sriharikota: Isro on Monday successfully launched India’s first astronomy satellite Astrosat, after eleven years of government clearing the project. A Polar Satellite Launched Vehicle (PSLV-C30) holding Astrosat and six other satellites were lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 10am. After 25 mintues off PSLV-C30 injected Astrosat and other satellites- four US nano satellites ,a microsatellite from Indonesia a nanosatellite from Canada - into their respective orbits. This is the first time India is launching a US satellite.

Astrosat, which had a lift-off mass of 1,513kg, will now embark on a five-year astronomy mission studying distant celestial objects.

It will observe the universe in the optical, ultraviolet, low and high energy x-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, compared to most other scientific satellites that are capable of observing a narrow range of wavelength band.

Among its assignments, the five payloads of Astrosat will study star birth regions and black holes.