AstroSat-10 Years of Discovery

1. Basic Facts & Mission

• The first Indian multi-wavelength space observatory, AstroSat, was launched on September 28, 2015.
• PSLV-C30 was launched into orbit of 650 km.
• It was built to last a 5-year trip, and it has now spent ten years in orbit (as of 2025), with all its instruments fully functional.

2. Scientific Capabilities

• It is a special observatory capable of performing research on the celestial bodies in the ultraviolet, visible, and X-ray at the same time.
• This multi-wavelength feature enables it to explore a broad set of cosmic phenomena.

3. Great Finds and Inventions.

• Cracked a 20-year old riddle concerning a red giant star when its mission commenced.
• Spotted far-UV light emitted by a source, 9.3 billion light-years away.
• Identified rapidly rotating black holes and measured X-ray emission of binary star systems.
• Made significant X-ray polarisation observations and found the Butterfly Nebula to be three times larger than thought.
• Offered revolutionary concepts on black holes, neutron stars, quasars and supernovae.

4. International Cooperation and Influence.

• An international (Canada, UK) project with ISRO, and Indian research institutions.
• Employs around 3,400 scientists in 57 countries around the world.
• Its data have been used in 132 universities in India to help to train a new generation of astronomers.