With reference to ‘Astrosat’, the astronomical observatory launched by India, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. Other than the USA and Russia, India is the only country to have launched a similar observatory into space. 2. Astrosat is a 2000 kg satellite placed in an orbit at 1650 km above the surface of the Earth.
Explanation
Statement 1 is incorrect: AstroSat is India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory aimed at studying celestial sources in X-ray, optical and UV spectral bands simultaneously. India is the 5th country to join the space observatory elite list after the USA, Russia, Japan, and Europe.
Statement 2 is incorrect: AstroSat with a lift-off mass of about 1513 kg was launched into a 650 km orbit inclined at an angle of 6 degrees to the equator by PSLV-C30.
Therefore, option D is the correct answer.