When was the first Indian Satellite launched?

India’s first satellite launched was the Aryabhata spacecraft, which was named after the famous Indian astronaut. It was designed and fabricated completely in India and was launched by Soviet Kosmos- 3M rocket from Kaputin Yar on 19th April 1975. Aryabhata satellite was built by ISRO and was launched by the Soviet Union which was part of the Soviet Interkosmos program.

A satellite is an object that revolves around a larger object in an orbit. For example, Moon is a satellite because it revolves around the Earth. Satellites made by man for specific purposes are called Artificial satellites or Man-made satellites. These satellites are launched into space and orbit Earth or any other planet or body (asteroid)  in space. Artificial satellites are used to take images of our planet and other planets, for communication purposes, oceanic studies, and topographic studies, for defense needs.

First Satellite of India

First Indian Satellite

Aryabhata was the first Indian satellite. It was completely first indigenous satellite designed in India. It was named in memory of India’s famous astrologer Aryabhata  It was launched from the Volgograd launch station in Russia through Kosmos 3M rocket (Soviet Union’s rocket) from Kapustin Yar on 19th April  1975. Its mission life is 6 months but it was active till May 1981 and its orbital life is nearly 17 years. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) built this satellite for conducting research in Solar physics, agronomics, and  X-ray astronomy. To develop Aryabhata Vikram Sarabhai the founder of ISRO appointed a team of engineers and scientists. This team was led by Dr. UR Rao. Due to a lack of proper infrastructure a toilet was used as a center to receive the data.
Aryabhata satellite was assembled at Peenya, Bengaluru The spacecraft was designed in a quasi-spherical or polygonal shape with 26 sides and a diameter is 1.4m. The government spent more than three crore rupees to assemble this satellite.

Solar panels were used on all 26 sides to provide the required energy of 46 watts to run this. It also includes a  passive thermal control system with batteries made of Nickel-Cadmium, and To maintain the spin rate of 90RPM a spin-up gas jet system is provided in it In the beginning, ISRO proposed 3 names for this satellite, Aryabhata, Jawahar, and Maitri. The then-prime minister Shri Indira Gandhi picked the name Aryabhata for this satellite.

Achievements

The flourishing launch of the first  Indian satellite Aryabhata proved ISRO’s capability to build an indigenous satellite. Aryabhata carried instruments in order to explore celestial X-rays in the 2.5–155 keV energy range. Scientists made observations of Cyg X-1  in the energy range of 2.5–18.75 keV, during the second orbit in about 108 days 9 hours 17 min 40 seconds UT, In 1976 and 1997 Reserve Bank of India published pictures of the satellite on two rupees in India in commemoration of this outstanding event.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q 1. What is the Mission life of India’s first satellite Aryabhata?

Answer-

Its mission life is 6 months but it was active till May 1981 and its orbital life is nearly 17 years.

Q 2. Which Space organization was involved in the construction of Aryabhata?

Answer-

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). It is the national space agency of India. Its headquarters is located in Bengaluru.

Q 3. Aryabhata was launched from which station in Russia?

Answer-

It was launched from cologuard launch station in Russia through Kosmos 3M rocket (Soviet union’s rocket) on 19th April 1975.