<Tr> <Th> Epoch </Th> <Td> 19 May 1975 </Td> </Tr> <P> Aryabhata (Hindi: आर्यभट) was India's first satellite, named after an Indian astronomer of the same name . </P> <P> It was launched by India on 19 April 1975 from Kapustin Yar, a Russian rocket launch and development site in Astrakhan Oblast using a Kosmos - 3M launch vehicle . It was built by the Indian Space Research Organisation. The launch came from an agreement between India and the Soviet Union directed by UR Rao and signed in 1972 . It allowed the USSR to use Indian ports for tracking ships and launching vessels in return for launching Indian satellites . Aryabhatta is the first man made (artificial) Indian satellite . </P> <P> On 19 April 1975, the satellite's 96.46 - minute orbit had an apogee of 611 kilometres (380 mi) and a perigee of 568 kilometres (353 mi), at an inclination of 50.6 degrees . It was built to conduct experiments in X-ray astronomy, aeronomics, and solar physics . The spacecraft was a 26 - sided polyhedron 1.4 metres (4.6 ft) in diameter . All faces (except the top and bottom) were covered with solar cells . A power failure halted experiments after four days and 60 orbits with all signals from the spacecraft lost after five days of the operation . According to Soviet media reports, the satellite continued to function and transmit information for some time . The satellite returned to the Earth's atmosphere on 11 February 1992 . </P>

India's first satellite aryabhatta was launched in