ISRO to Launch First Dedicated X-Ray Polarisation Mission on New Year Day

TIRUPATI: After landing on the Moon and sending a probe to study the Sun, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will ring in the New Year on Monday with the launch of its first dedicated scientific mission to shed new light on the mysteries of black holes.

Breaking another barrier, Isro will also launch a satellite built entirely by women on Monday.

Incidentally, Aditya-L1, Isro’s sun lab, will reach its space home about 1 million km away from Earth, on January 6.

The 44-metre Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle's 60th flight (PSLV-C58), to be launched from the spaceport at Sriharikota, will carry the 570-kg X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) to space. The launch is scheduled at 9.10 am on Monday.

It will release the XPoSat in a low Earth orbit of 650 km, 21 minutes after lift-off. The rocket, with a mass of 260 tonnes, will then release 10 other satellites.

The PSLV’s fourth stage will then be brought down to an altitude of 350 km to conduct space experiments.

XPoSat will study black holes, neutron stars and other intense X-ray sources by examining the polarisation of their X-rays. By studying the orientation of these X-rays, scientists hope to better understand the physics and processes powering some of the most-extreme and perplexing objects in the universe.

The primary payload, POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays), will measure the polarisation of cosmic X-rays in the 8-30 keV (kilo electron volt) range, while a secondary X-ray spectrometer, XSPECT, will provide spectroscopic information in the energy range of 0.8-15 keV.

"XPoSat heralds a new era in Indian astronomy as our first dedicated polarimetry satellite," stated ISRO in a release. "The insights it provides into magnetised cosmic objects like black holes and neutron stars will be invaluable.”

ISRO said the mission’s objectives include mapping out magnetic fields around compact objects like black holes and pulsars, understanding the geometry and physics of the inner accretion disc surrounding black holes, and probing extreme physics like vacuum polarisation effects.

Along with XPoSat, the PSLV orbiter stage called the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module or POEM would also host experimental payloads from various private companies to test and qualify new space technologies. ISRO seeks to support the emerging private space industry in India by providing orbital platforms for such experiments, the space agency said in a statement.

Among its other payloads are a radiation shielding experiment module by TakeMe2Space, a women-engineered satellite by LBS Institute of Technology for Women, BeliefSat (an amateur radio satellite) built by KJ Somaiya Institute of Technology, a green impulse transmitter by Inspecity Space Labs Pvt Ltd

Also on board will be LEAT-TD — launching 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 Isro’s Physical Research Laboratory, and fuel cell power system built by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.