ISRO launches ASTROSAT, first space observatory

 ISRO has launched the PSLV-C30 from Sriharikota. With the Monday's launch, ISRO has successfully crossed the half century mark as for foreign satellites. This mission becomes more important specially when India is launching its first Astrosat. What is Astrosat and why is it important? Let us discuss below the different aspects.

Few days after it celebrated the successful completion of a year around the Red planet by its first inter-planetary mission - the Mars Orbiter, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday launched its first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory into space, besides six satellites for Canada, Indonesia and the United States. This is the first time ISRO is launching satellites for the United States.

ASTROSAT

ASTROSAT aims at understanding the high energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and black holes, to estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars, to study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying beyond the Milky way galaxy. The mission also intends to detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky, to perform a limited deep field survey of the Universe in the ultraviolet region. The satellite can perform simultaneous multi-wavelength observations of various astronomical objects. The sun and star sensors, besides the gyroscopes, would provide orientation reference to the satellite, which has a mission life of five years.

The Other Six

While Canada’s NLS-14 is a maritime monitoring nanosatellite using the Automatic Identification System, Indonesia’s LAPAN-A2 is aimed at benefitting Indonesian radio amateur communities for disaster mitigation and carrying out Earth surveillance. All the four identical LEMUR satellites for the United States - non-visual remote sensing satellites aims to focus on global maritime intelligence through vessel tracking.

Source :  The Hindu