The satellite was named after the renowned Indian astronomer, Aryabhata.

India currently has numerous operational satellites which provide valuable services to the nation. But it all started on April 19, 1975, when the country's first satellite, the Aryabhata, was launched from Kapustin Yar, Soviet Russia, using a Kosmos-3M launch vehicle.

Built by ISRO, the satellite was launched by the Soviet Union as a part of the Soviet Interkosmos program. It came as part of an agreement between India and the Soviet Union, allowing the USSR to use Indian ports to track ships and launch vessels in return for launching Indian satellites.

The main objective of ISRO was to perform experiments in X-ray astrology, agronomy, and solar physics.

About the mission

The satellite was a 26-sided polyhedron with 1.4 meters diameter. All faces, except the top and bottom, were covered with solar cells.

 

The experiments halted after four days due to a power failure and its 60 orbits with all signals lost after five days.

The satellite's major orbit parameters were a perigree altitude of 563 Km and an Apogee altitude of 619 Km. Also, the time was 96.46 minutes, and the Inclination of 50.7 degrees.

The spacecraft's mainframe was active till March 1981. It entered Earth's atmosphere on 10 February 1992.

Some interesting facts

Upon launching Aryabhata, India became the world's 11th nation to send a satellite into orbit.

 

The image of the satellite appeared on the reverse of Indian two-rupee banknotes from 1976 to 1997.

ISRO has launched a total of 129 satellites of Indian Origin and 342 foreign satellites that belong to 36 countries.