With reference to 'Astrosat', the astronomical observatory launched by India, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1.Other than USA and Russia, India is the only country to have launched a similar observatory into space.
- 2.Astrosat is a 2000 kg satellite placed in an orbit at 1650 km above the surface of the Earth.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Neither statement is correct. Astrosat weighed about 1,513 kg at lift-off and was put into a 650 km orbit, not 2,000 kg and 1,650 km; and India is not the only country beyond the USA and Russia to have launched a space observatory, since Europe's ESA, for one, had already done so.
- ✗ 1. Other countries and agencies have launched space observatories. For example, ESA's Integral gamma-ray observatory was launched on 17 October 2002, long before Astrosat (September 2015).
- ✗ 2. ISRO gives Astrosat's lift-off mass as about 1,513 kg and its orbit as 650 km, inclined at 6 degrees to the equator, launched by PSLV-C30.
Remember · Astrosat: India's multi-wavelength space observatory (UV to X-ray), launched by PSLV-C30 on 28 September 2015; about 1,513 kg, 650 km orbit at 6 degrees inclination.
Sources
- ASTROSAT (Indian Space Research Organisation; page as archived in 2016) ↗ “ASTROSAT with a lift-off mass of about 1513 kg was launched into a 650 km orbit inclined at an angle of 6 deg to the equator by PSLV-C30.”
- Integral overview (European Space Agency) ↗ “Integral was launched by a Proton rocket, Russia's largest operational launch vehicle, on 17 October 2002 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·