- Title: INDIA-SPACE/ASTROSAT Eyes on space, India launches 'mini-Hubble'
- Date: 28th September 2015
- Summary: SRIHARIKOTA, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA (SEPTEMBER 28, 2015) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** NEWS CONFERENCE AT ISRO IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MISSION DIRECTOR, B. JAYAKUMAR, SAYING: "Just now, we completed the PSLV-C30 ASTROSAT Mission and everything went on well in the mission and we have used an external version of PSLV which we call as PSLV XL vehicle for this mission and the performance of the vehicle has been excellent. In fact, it has performed as we wanted." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS/ SCIENTISTS SEATED
- Embargoed: 14th October 2015 10:07
- Keywords:
- Location: India
- Country: India
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA3SLZ1TPJTDNUUXKGQ6EIY45HR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL
India launched its first space research observatory and several U.S. satellites on Monday (September 28), part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's drive to expand his country's influence in the competitive, $300 billion global space industry.
The observatory, named ASTROSAT, will help Indian scientists intensify space exploration efforts by studying distant celestial objects and conduct deeper analyses of star systems.
"Just now we completed the PSLV-C30 ASTROSAT Mission and everything went on well in the mission and we have used an external version of PSLV which we call as PSLV XL vehicle for this mission and the performance of the vehicle has been excellent. In fact, it has performed as we wanted," Mission Director, B. Jayakumar, said.
The simultaneous launch of six other satellites, four of which were for the United States, came hours before a scheduled meeting between Modi and U.S. President Barack Obama.
Modi is bullish about India's space research programme and has repeatedly lauded the efforts of his scientists, who last year scored big on the global stage when their low-cost Mars mission entered the red planet's orbit on its very first attempt.
Despite the recent successes, the growth of India's space programme has been stymied by lack of heavier launchers and slow execution of missions - during 2007-2012, only about half of the planned 60 missions were accomplished.
In December, India successfully tested a new, more powerful rocket - the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III - that can put heavier payloads into space, but it is not yet operational.
ASTROSAT is seen as a smaller version of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope that was launched in 1990. It will be able to detect objects in multiple wavelengths such as X-rays, but with far lower precision than Hubble, said Mayank Vahia of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
The ASTROSAT instruments will transmit data to a control centre in the southern city of Bangalore that will manage the satellite during its five-year mission life. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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