Astrosat, India's First Dedicated Space Observatory, Launched Successfully ....
New Delhi: Astrosat, the country's first
astronomy observatory to study
distant celestial objects, has been
launched from Sriharikota in Andhra
Pradesh.
India will be the first country in the
developing world to have its very own
turbo-charged 'mini Hubble Telescope'
in space.
This flight of the Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is historic as,
for the first time, American satellites
are being launched by India.
Till recently, the US had kept ISRO
under sanctions and technology was
being denied on a regular basis so
much so that under pressure from the
US, India was denied the critical
cryogenic engine technology which
pushed back Indian foray into deep
space by two decades.
Now, these four small LEMUR satellites
are being launched on a commercial
basis for a San Francisco-based
company. India's low cost launching
made the Americans shun their
attitude towards ISRO.