Apr 19 1975
From The Space Library
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(New page: The U.S.S.R. launched Aryabhata, India's first scientific satellite, from Kapustin Yar in the Soviet Union. The satellite entered orbit with a 611-km apogee, 568-km perigee, 96.5-min p...)
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The U.S.S.R. launched Aryabhata, India's first scientific satellite, from Kapustin Yar in the Soviet Union. The satellite entered orbit with a 611-km apogee, 568-km perigee, 96.5-min period, and 50.7° inclination. The Delhi Domestic News Service said that the 360-kg satellite, named for a fifth-century Indian astronomer and mathematician, carried instruments to measure x-rays from celestial sources, look for neutrons and gamma radiation from the sun, and measure ionospheric parameters. Ground tracking stations in India and the Soviet Union reported the instrumentation was functioning normally.
Aryabhata, designed and built by scientists at India's Space Research Organization with technical assistance from Soviet scientists and specialists, was completed under an agreement for joint Indian Soviet collaboration signed on 10 May 1972. The press reported the estimated cost of the project to be $6 million. (Delhi Dom News Ser, FBIS-India, 22-24 April 75; Weintraub, NYT, 21 April 75, 49; GSFC Wkly SSR, 17-23 April 75; educ'l attache, Indian Embassy, Wash DC, interview, 18 Nov 76)
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