PTI

Astrosat launch in 2008

17 June 2007

Kolkata:-India's multi-wavelength astronomical observatory ''Astrosat'' will be launched in 2008 with the challenges in its design and control system being overcome, eminent astrophysicist and former ISRO chairman Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan has said.

''It will be launched next year,'' Kasturirangan said, adding the biggest challenge of creating a control system in space for the Astrosat had been overcome with the use of high-speed wheels to facilitate tilting of the telescopes at the desired angles.

Orbiting 600 km above the earth's surface, the Rs 200 crore Astrosat would facilitate study of astrophysical objects ranging from nearby solar system objects to distant stars and objects at cosmological distances, he said.

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