The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will welcome the new year with the launch of its first X-Ray Polarimeter satellite that would provide insights into celestial bodies such as black holes, on board a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket on Monday.
This launch also comes after the success of the Gaganyaan Test Vehicle D1 mission in October. The PSLV-C58 rocket would carry the XPoSat primary payload and ten other satellites deployed to low Earth orbit on its 60th mission.
The 25-hour countdown began on Sunday for the launch scheduled for 9.10 am from the first launch pad at SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota, about 135 km east of Chennai on January 1.
Objective of the mission
The X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) is intended to investigate the polarization of intense X-ray sources in space. According to ISRO, it is ISRO's first dedicated science satellite to conduct research on space-based polarization measurements of X-rays from celestial sources.
Objective of the mission
The purpose of the PSLV-C58 mission includes measuring the polarization of X-rays in the energy band 8-30 keV coming from approximately 50 potential cosmic sources, to conduct long-term spectral and temporal studies of cosmic X-ray sources. The X-ray polarization serves as a crucial diagnostic tool for investigating the radiation mechanism and geometry of celestial sources. The primary payload of XPoSat is POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in
Duration of the mission:
According to ISRO, the mission lifespan is approximately 5 years.
PSLV rocket
The 44.4-meter-tall PSLV rocket would first deploy the primary satellite into a low Earth orbit of 650 km about 21 minutes after launch, and later the scientists would lower the satellite to a lower altitude of about 350 km by the fourth restart phase of the launch. the vehicle, for conducting the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-3 (POEM-3) experiment. It may be recalled that the space agency conducted a similar scientific experiment using POEM-2 in April 2023 during the PSLV-C55 mission. The rocket that will fly is the PSLV-DL variant, which has a take-off mass of 260 tons. The fourth stage is configured as a 3-axis stabilized orbital platform for conducting experiments.
The payloads are Radiation Shielding Experiment Module from TakeMe2Space, Women Engineered Satellite from LBS Institute of Technology for Women, BeliefSat (an amateur radio satellite) built by KJ Somaiya Institute of Technology, Green Impulse Transmitter from Inspecity Space Labs Pvt Ltd, LEATTD – Launch Expeditions for Aspiring Technologies Technology Demonstrator by Dhruva Space Pvt Ltd, RUDRA 0.3HPGP and ARKA 200 developed by Bellatrix Aerospace Pvt Ltd, Dust Experiment (DEX) built by PRL, ISRO and Fuel Cell Power System and Si based High Energy cell built by Vikram Sarabhai Space Center .
Besides ISRO, the US-based National Aeronautics Space Agency (NASA) conducted a similar study – the Imaging cosmic events. While space-based X-ray astronomy is based in India and focuses on imaging and time-domain studies, Monday's mission marks a significant addition to the scientific fraternity, the space agency said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Published: Dec 31, 2023 1:20 PM IST