Who launched the First Global Positioning System (GPS) III satellite nicknamed as Vespucci US Military Satellite?

By using Indian multi-wavelength space observatory AstroSat, the astronomers from Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai have identified a new population of ultraviolet stars in the globular cluster NGC 2808. Globular clusters are collections of thousands to millions of stars, moving as one unit. These stars are tightly held together by gravity of the cluster itself, and are believed to have formed together at roughly the same time. The NGC 2808 is one of the most massive globular clusters that we know of, and is located at a distance of 47,000 light years from us. This cluster was observed by the team of researchers using the UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) on-board AstroSat. So far, AstroSat has taken images of over 2,000 individual stars in NGC 2808 through various ultraviolet filters. AstroSat is the India's first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory. It was launched in September 2015. It orbits in low earth equatorial orbit at altitude of 650 km and has mission life of 5 years. It observes universe in the optical, Ultraviolet (UV), low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

India's lunar mission Chandrayaan 2 will carry NASA's laser instruments. The U.S. space agency said that the laser instrument will help scientists to make precise measurements of the distance to the Moon. Chandrayaan 2 is scheduled to be launched in the month of April. NASA has confirmed that Chandrayaan 2 and Israeli lander Beresheet, due to touch down on April 11, will each carry NASA-owned laser retroreflector arrays. Chandrayaan-2 will be India's second mission to the Moon. It will include an orbiter and lander-rover module.

The 340m wide asteroid named 99942 Apophis will fly past Earth like a 'moving star- like point of light' on April 13, 2029. It will fly above the earth's surface at 30,500 km and first become visible with a naked eye in the night sky over the Southern Hemisphere from the east coast to the west coast of Australia.In 2004, astronomers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory based in Arizona discovered Apophis and claims about the chance of 2.7% that asteroid may impact Earth in 2029. However, further observation ruled out that chance but Apophis still has a small chance of impacting Earth which is less than 1 in 100,00- many decades from now.

ISRO will launch a student satellite called 'Kalamsat' and an imaging satellite known as 'Microsat-R' on 24 January 2019. Both the satellite will be carried by 'PSLV C-44' rocket. PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle. In PSLV-C44, the fourth stage (PS4) of the vehicle would be moved to a ?higher circular orbit so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments.

An international team of astronomers used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study white dwarf stars within the globular cluster NGC 6752.

In the special mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will also launch 28 third-party satellites and will demonstrate its new technologies like three different orbits with a new variant of 'Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle' (PSLV) rocket in March, 2019. Electronic intelligence satellite 'Emisat' of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) weighs about 420 kg. After launching Emisat at an altitude of 763 km, the PSLV rocket will be brought down to put the remaining 28 satellites into orbit at an altitude of 504 km.

India's latest communication satellite GSAT-31 was successfully launched by European launch services provider- Arianespace's rocket from Kourou Launch Base in French Guiana on February 6, 2019. The Ariane-5 vehicle (Flight VA247) also carried Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4 along with GSAT-31.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) selected 10 companies jointly with the NITI-Aayog from a list of 141 companies for transfer of its Lithium-ion cells technology developed by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thumba. ISRO developed Li-ion cells with capacities ranging from 1.5 Ah to 100 Ah for use in launch vehicles and satellites.

An international team of more than 200 astronomers from 18 countries has published the first phase of a major new radio sky survey at unprecedented sensitivity using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The survey discovered 3,00,000 hidden galaxies using radio astronomy in a tiny corner of the northern hemisphere at low radio frequency. It is believed that these findings will help shed new light on some of the Universe's deepest secrets. This includes the physics of black holes as well as research into how galaxy clusters evolve. The LOFAR telescope is operated by ASTRON in The Netherlands and is considered to be the world's leading telescope of its type. It is made up of a network of radio antenna across seven countries, forming the equivalent of a 1,300-km diameter satellite dish. It is capable of detecting light source beyond the power of optical instruments. Radio astronomy allows scientists to detect radiation produced when massive celestial objects interact.

Scientists from Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar have developed world's Thinnest Material by making usage of Magnesium Diboride. It has its utility in next-generation materials and UV absorbing films.