INSPIREsat-1 was a student satellite built by the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) with the University of Colorado Boulder. It flew on PSLV-C52 in February 2022 to study the Sun's corona and Earth's ionosphere.
Re-entered Earth's atmosphere on 2 May 2026, according to the public satellite catalogue.
The satellite carried two science payloads. The Dual Aperture X-ray Solar Spectrometer (DAXSS), funded by NASA, measured soft X-rays from the Sun to study how the corona is heated. The Compact Ionosphere Probe, from National Central University (NCU) in Taiwan, measured the ionosphere directly around the satellite.
INSPIREsat-1 came from the INSPIRE programme, a group of universities led by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) in Boulder. The programme lets students design, build, test and operate small satellites.
IIST built the on-board computer, and LASP, IIST and NCU developed the power system together. Gunter's Space Page gives its mass as about 8 kg.
It was launched from Sriharikota on 14 February 2022 on PSLV-C52, with the radar satellite EOS-04 and ISRO's INS-2TD.
INSPIREsat-1 re-entered Earth's atmosphere on 2 May 2026, according to the public satellite catalogue.