Yet another success for ISRO. India now have its very own space observatory. The nation joined the select group of US, Japan, Russia and Europe nations on Monday for owning space observatory.
ISRO achieved the feat after the successful launch of ASTROSAT by its rocket, which also put into orbit six other foreign satellites.
Going into the details, Exactly at 10 a.m. the 44.4 metres tall weighing around 320 ton polar satellite launch vehicle’s XL variant (PSLV-XL) blasted off the first launch pad at the rocket port here at Sriharikota.
The PSLV-XL rocket with seven satellites cumulatively weighing 1,631 kg climbed up steadily gathering speed amidst the cheers of Indian space agency officials and the media team assembled here.
The expendable rocket carried Rs.180 crore ASTROSAT, India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory that will help in understanding the universe, and six other foreign satellites.
Going into PSLV-XL’s cargo details, ASTROSAT with a five year life span weighed 1,513 kg, and the six foreign satellites (four from the US and one each from Indonesia and Canada) together weighed 118 kg. Just over 22 minutes into the flight, the rocket slug ASTROSAT at an altitude of 650 km above the earth.
Soon after, six other satellites were put into orbit and the whole mission ended in just over 25 minutes.
For the third time a PSLV rocket has launched seven satellites in a single mission. In 2008, ISRO had launched 10 satellites in one go, including India’s Cartosate-2A satellite.
Immediately on the successfully ejection, scientists at the mission control centre were visibly relieved and started clapping happily. In the process India crossed the half century milestone when it its rocket injected the six foreign satellites successfully into their intended orbit. With this successful launch, India has completed the launch of 45 foreign satellites for a fee.
