India enters select leage
With the launch of ASTROSAT, India on Monday joined a select group of nations owning space observatory
Posted:
Sep 29, 2015 10:28 AM
Updated:
8 years ago
- With the launch of ASTROSAT, India on Monday joined a select group of nations owning space observatory
- At 10 am, the 44.4 metres tall (weighing 320 tonne) polar satellite launch vehicle's XL variant (PSLV-XL) blasted off Sriharikota, around 80 km from Chennai
- The PSLV-XL rocket carried seven satellites — ASTROSAT, four from the US and one each from Indonesia and Canada
- This is the first time that an Indian rocket has launched US satellites
- Developed at a cost of Rs 180 crore, India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory ASTROSAT will help in understanding the universe
- The ASTROSAT will have five-year life. Just over 22 minutes into the flight, the rocket slug ASTROSAT at an altitude of 650 km above the earth