India
launched its first space observatory, Astrosat, on Monday from the
spaceport of Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, making
India the country after the US, Japan and EU to have their own
telescope in space.
Astrosat,
dubbed as the country’s “mini-Hubble telescope,” was launched at 10 am
local time (0430 GMT) on board the indigenous Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle, which also carried six foreign satellites, including four from the United States.
The
telescope, which is made by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
and intended to study distant celestial objects, is expected to orbit
650 kilometers above the earth and its mission lifetime is 5 years.
Astrosat will have unique capabilities and observe the universe through
optical, ultraviolet, low and high energy X-ray components of the
electromagnetic spectrum, whereas most other scientific satellites are
capable of observing through a narrow wavelength band, according to the
ISRO. “The global astronomy community is looking forward to this launch
as no other global space-based telescope has comparable capabilities,”
Kiran Kumar, the chief of the Indian space agency, said on Sunday as the
countdown began for the launch. Astrosat comes at a cost of 45 million
US dollars to build and conduct its astronomical research.
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