Aryabhata (satellite)


Aryabhata was India's first satellite, named after the famous Indian astronomer. It was launched on 19 April 1975 from Kapustin Yar, a Russian rocket launch and development site in Astrakhan Oblast using a Kosmos-3M launch vehicle. It was built by the ISRO.

Launch

It was launched by India on 19 April 1975 from Kapustin Yar, a Russian rocket launch and development site in Astrakhan Oblast using a Kosmos-3M launch vehicle. It was built by the Indian Space Research Organisation.The launch came from an agreement between India and the Soviet Union directed by UR Rao and signed in 1972. It allowed the USSR to use Indian ports for tracking ships and launching vessels in return for launching various different Indian satellites.
On 19 April 1975, the satellite's 96.46-minute orbit had an apogee of and a perigee of, at an inclination of 50.7 degrees. It was built to conduct experiments in X-ray astronomy, aeronomics, and solar physics. The spacecraft was a 26-sided polyhedron in diameter. All faces were covered with solar cells. A power failure halted experiments after four days and 60 orbits with all signals from the spacecraft lost after five days of the operation. Spacecraft mainframe remained active till March 1981. Due to orbital decay the satellite entered Earth's atmosphere on 11 February 1992.

Legacy