Bhaskara-I and -II were two satellites built by the Indian Space Research Organisation that formed India's first low-Earth orbit Earth observation satellite. They collected data on oceanography and hydrology. The satellites are named after the ancient Indian mathematicians Bhāskara I and Bhāskara II. R. M. Vasagam was the project director.
Bhaskara-I
Bhaskara-I, weighing 444 kg at launch, was launched on 7 June 1979 from Kapustin Yar aboard the Intercosmos launch vehicle. It was placed in an orbital perigee and apogee of 394 km and 399 km at an inclination of 50.7°.3 The satellite consisted of:
- Two television cameras operating in visible (600 nanometre) and near-infrared (800 nanometre) that collected data related to hydrology, forestry and geology.
- Satellite microwave radiometer (SAMIR) operating at 19 and 22 GHz for study of ocean-state, water vapour, liquid water content in the atmosphere, etc.
- An X-ray sky monitor operating in 2-10 keV energy range, to detect transient X-ray sources and monitor long-term spectral and intensity changes in the X-ray sources.
Bhaskara-II
The satellite provided ocean and land surface data. It orbited at 541 × 557 km with an inclination of 50.7°.
While one of two onboard cameras malfunctioned, the satellite still sent back more than two thousand images. Housekeeping telemetry was received until re-entry in 1991.4
See also
References
Bhaskara NASA 16 September 2017 https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1979-051A ↩
"Veteran scientist and former Anna University V-C R.M. Vasagam no more". The Hindu. 15 February 2025. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 February 2025. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/veteran-scientist-and-former-anna-university-v-c-rm-vasagam-no-more/article69222220.ece ↩
Bharat-rakshak.com Indian satellite systems Archived 16 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/SPACE/space-satellite1.html#Bhaskara ↩
"Earth Observation Satellite". Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130121083629/http://isro.org/satellites/Bhaskara-II.aspx ↩