Kalpana-1 was the first dedicated meteorological satellite launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on 12 September 2002.

The METSAT bus was used as the basis for the Chandrayaan lunar orbiter mission of 2008.

On February 5, 2003, it was renamed to Kalpana-1 by the Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in memory of Kalpana Chawla—an Indian born NASA astronaut who perished in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

The satellite features a Very High Resolution scanning Radiometer (VHRR), for three-band images (visible, infrared, and thermal infrared) with a resolution of 2 km × 2 km (1.2 mi × 1.2 mi), and a Data Relay Transponder (DRT) payload to provide data to weather terrestrial platforms.

[3] Its mission were to collect data in layer of clouds, water vapor, and temperature of the atmosphere and to establish a small satellite I-1000 bus system which can meet the exclusive service requirements of a meteorological payload for earth imageries Kalpana-1 went out of service in mid-2018.