On February 14, 2022, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched a satellite called “INSPIRESat-1”.

Who developed INSPIRESat-1?

INSPIRESat-1 has jointly been developed by team of international researchers including from universities of India, US, Taiwan, and Singapore.

The universities include:

1. University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric & Space Physics (LASP)
2. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST)
3. Taiwan’s National Central University (NCU) and
4. Singapore’ Nanyang Technological University.

About INSPIRESat-1

• INSPIRESat-1 stands for International Research & Teaching Satellite Project satellite one. This satellite has been developed by Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology (IIST) in association with Laboratory of Atmospheric & Space Physics at University of Colorado, Boulder. It was launched onboard Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C52.
• INSPIRESat-1 is a student satellite. Mission life of the satellite is one year. It will study orbital heating of the sun and about dynamics of ionosphere. Weight of INSPIRE-1 is 8.1 kg.
• PSLV-C52 placed another satellite called “technology demonstrator (INS-2TD)” from ISRO. It is a precursor to India-Bhutan Joint Satellite (INS-2B).
• Both the satellite will provide information on Sun’s corona as well as its impact on Earth’s ionosphere.
• It also injected Earth Observation Satellite EOS-04. It will provide high-quality images under all weather conditions for applications like Forestry & Plantations, Agriculture, Flood mapping and Soil Moisture & Hydrology.