Correct Answer : Option (B) - APPLE
Indian First Communication Satellite – APPLE : Ariane Passenger PayLoad Experiment, APPLE was an experimental communication satellite successfully launched by Ariane-1, from Kourou, French Guiana on June 19, 1981, exactly 35 years back, marking an important milestone in India's space programme. APPLE was designed and built as a sandwich passenger-carrying Meteosat on top and CAT (Capsule Ariane Technologique) module below. It was boosted into Geo-Synchronous Orbit (GSO) by ISRO's own apogee motor derived from the fourth stage motor of the SLV-3. APPLE spacecraft was designed and built in just two years with limited infrastructure in industrial sheds. It gave ISRO valuable hands-on experience in designing and developing three-axis stabilized geostationary communication satellites as well as in orbit raising manoeuvres, in orbit deployment of appendages, station keeping, etc.
