Sriharikota. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is all set to launch its first X-ray Polarimeter satellite (XPoSAT) on Monday, the first day of the new year. This mission will reveal the secrets of astronomical creations like black holes. This launch is being done after the success of Gaganyaan test vehicle ‘D1 Mission’ in October. The lifespan of this mission will be about five years.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C58) rocket, on its 60th mission, will carry the main payload ‘ExpoSat’ along with 10 other satellites, which will be placed in low Earth orbits.
The 25-hour countdown for the launch, which will take place at 9.10 am on the first day of the New Year from the space center located about 135 km east of Chennai, began on Sunday.
ISRO sources said, ‘The countdown for PSLV-C58 started at 8.10 am on Sunday.’
‘X-ray Polarimeter Satellite’ (XPoSAT) will help in unraveling the mysteries of X-ray sources and studying the mysterious world of ‘black holes’.
According to ISRO, it is the space agency’s first dedicated scientific satellite to study X-ray emissions from astronomical sources in space-based polarization measurements.
Apart from the Indian space agency ISRO, the US space agency NASA had conducted a similar study in December 2021 on the remains of supernova explosion, streams of particles emanating from black holes and other astronomical phenomena.
ISRO said that space-based study of X-ray polarization is becoming internationally important and the EXPOSACT mission will play an important role in this context.
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FIRST PUBLISHED: January 1, 2024, 07:36 IST