AGILE

Spacecraft n°:

Italian spacecraft n°: 20

Launch data: Designation  31135 / 07013A Launch date  23 Apr 2007 - 10:00 UT Launch site  Sriharikota Launch vehicle  PSLV-CA (1e flight) Mission  Government: Scientific Research Astronomy LEO Earth orbit on: Perigee / Apogee  523 x 553 km Eccentricity  2.17E-03 Inclination  2.47° Period  95.4 min

Spacecraft data: Prime contractor  Carlo Gavazzi Space Operator  Italian Space Agency (ASI) Platform  MITA bus Mass at launch  325 kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension (m)   Solar array   Stabilization   DC power   Design lifetime  3 yrs

Mission details:

• The Italian gamma-ray observatory AGILE (Astrorivelatore Gamma ad Imagini Leggero, Light Gamma-Ray Imaging Astronomical Detector) was launched on Apr 23 aboard an Indian PSLV rocket into a 523 x 552 km x 2.5 deg orbit. AGILE carries the GRID 0.3-200 MeV wide-field gamma ray imager, which will try and scoop some of the science from NASA's much more powerful GLAST mission to be launched at the end of the year. It also carries the Super-AGILE 15-45 keV detector, which will give the best look yet at the hard X-ray sky.
• PSLV-C8 flew for the first time in a light configuration with no strap-on motors. It used a Dual Launch Adapter; the secondary payload was an Advanced Avionics Module for future use on Indian launch vehicles; the AAM presumably did not separate from the PS4 fourth stage.
• AGILE is the first foreign payload to launch as a prime customer on an indian PSLV launch vehicle.