UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Steady gaze

Q1. Of the following four orbital regimes used by Indian space missions — a sun-synchronous polar orbit, a geostationary orbit, an inclined geosynchronous orbit, and a geosynchronous transfer orbit — how many have an orbital period equal to one sidereal day (about 23 hours 56 minutes)?

  • A. One
  • B. Two
  • C. Three
  • D. Four

Q2. Within the Department of Space, at which centre are India's satellites — including those destined for geosynchronous orbit — designed, assembled and tested?

  • A. Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad
  • B. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram
  • C. U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru
  • D. Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Valiamala

Q3. GSLV-F17 placed EOS-05 in a 'sub-geosynchronous transfer orbit'. This expression refers to which one of the following?

  • A. A circular orbit a few hundred kilometres below the geosynchronous altitude, in which the satellite's period is slightly shorter than a sidereal day
  • B. An inclined geosynchronous orbit in which the satellite traces a daily figure-of-eight ground track instead of staying fixed over one longitude
  • C. A low-altitude parking orbit from which the launcher's upper stage transfers the satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit
  • D. An elliptical transfer orbit whose apogee falls short of the geosynchronous altitude, the satellite thereafter raising itself with onboard propulsion

Q4. Which one of the following is ISRO's lead centre for the development of key payload technologies for earth observation, including the C-band and X-band microwave radars of the RISAT series?

  • A. Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad
  • B. National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad
  • C. U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru
  • D. Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad

Q5. Oceansat-3, formally designated EOS-06 in ISRO's earth-observation series, carries how many ocean-observing sensors?

  • A. Two
  • B. Three
  • C. Four
  • D. Five

Q6. While ISRO built and launched it, the INSAT-3DS meteorological mission was funded by which one of the following?

  • A. The Ministry of Earth Sciences
  • B. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
  • C. The Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology
  • D. The National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Home Affairs

Q7. Which one of the following is India's first indigenously developed cryogenic engine, used in the upper stage of the GSLV Mk II?

  • A. CE-20
  • B. CE-7.5
  • C. SCE-200
  • D. Vikas