Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch Astrosat, a satellite dedicated to study celestial objects on September 28 from spaceport at Satish Dhavan Space Centre, Sriharikota by PSlV C-34 launch vehicle. AS Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO told the media on the sidelines of a function in Bengaluru that the satellite has completed all the tests and will be launched to a 650 km near equatorial orbit around the Earth.
Astrosat, the first mission to be operated as a space observatory by ISRO, carries four X-ray payloads, one UV telescope and a charge particle monitor.
Astrosat is the first dedicated Indian astronomy mission aimed at studying distant celestial objects. The mission is capable of performing observations in Ultraviolet (UV), optical, low and high energy X-ray wavebands at the same time. Astrosat is the first mission to be operated as a space observatory by ISRO.
According to ISRO, all the payloads and sub-systems are integrated to the satellite. Mechanical fit checks of the satellite with PSlV payload adaptor were performed successfully. last week, the spacecraft was fully assembled and switched on.
Astrosat will carry four X-ray payloads, one UV telescope and a charge particle monitor. Apart from ISRO, four other Indian institutions, viz, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) and Raman Research Institute (RRI) are involved in payload development. Two of the payloads are in collaboration with Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and University of leicester (Uol), UK.