The Hyderabad ground station started receiving Landsat data on a regular basis in 1978.

IRS-1A was the first remote sensing mission to provide imagery for various land-based applications, such as agriculture, forestry, geology, and hydrology.

[4] The satellite bus, measuring 1.56 m x 1.66 m x 1.10 metres, had the payload module attached on the top and a deployable solar panels stowed on either side.

Attitude control was provided by four-momentum wheels, two magnetic torques, and a thruster system.

[5] The three-axis-stabilised Sun-synchronous satellite carried LISS sensors which performed "push-broom" scanning in visible and near-infrared bands to acquire images of the Earth.