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Aimed at studying celestial objects, Astrosat was launched successfully at 10 am on 28 September 2015 from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh. Astrosat, the India’s first dedicated space observatory, is carried by PSLV-C30.

Besides Astrosat, PSLV-C30 is carrying six other co-passengers, four nanosatellites from the US and one satellite each from Canada and Indonesia. The successful launch of Astrosat, makes India gain an entry into select club of nations with own space observatory. Other who belong to the club include the US, Russia, Japan and Europe.

AS Kiran Kumar, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organization, recently said, "What it means for India is this: it is one of the first scientific missions which will be available to the Indian researcher community as an observation opportunity. This is a starting point for such things."

Features of ASTROSAT:

Five-year life span
1,513 kg weight
Weight of six foreign satellites: 118 kg

An Antrix Corporation official revealed about the signing on an agreement to put nine American nano/microsatellites into orbit by the end of 2016. Antrix is the commercial arm of India Space Research Organisation (ISRO). On Monday, four US satellites were put into orbit. Rest five would later be piggyback on a bigger satellite.

ISRO space scientists have glued them to the computers at the mission control room as the rocket escapes the gravitational pull of the earth. The rocket slug ASTROSAT, within 22 minutes of flight, at a 650 km altitude above the earth. Then, six other satellites were put into orbit. Within 25 minutes the mission ended.

-Sumana