Kalpana-1, first called METSAT, was ISRO's first satellite built only for weather watching. It was launched by PSLV in September 2002 and renamed in 2003 after astronaut Kalpana Chawla.
No longer operational, according to the public satellite catalogue.
From geostationary orbit at 74° E, Kalpana-1 carried a Very High Resolution Radiometer (VHRR) that imaged the Earth in visible, thermal infrared and water-vapour channels. A Data Relay Transponder collected readings from unattended weather stations across India and passed them on.
Until then, weather instruments had shared INSAT satellites with communication payloads.
It weighed 1,060 kg at launch, of which 498 kg was dry mass; most of the rest was propellant for climbing to its final orbit. Its solar array gave 550 W, and its structure used light carbon-fibre parts. It was designed for seven years.
ISRO Satellite Centre, Bengaluru, built the satellite, and the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, built its weather instruments.
PSLV-C4 launched it from Sriharikota on 12 September 2002. It was the first time PSLV put a satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, about 250 km by 36,000 km. The satellite's own engine then raised it to geostationary height.
On 5 February 2003 METSAT was renamed Kalpana-1, after Indian-born astronaut Kalpana Chawla, who died on 1 February 2003 in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.