Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully launched its maiden X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite that would offer several insights into celestial objects like black holes.
After the Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L1 mission by the Indian space department, this will be the next historic step towards space exploration by the country, as per the statement.
Through this satellite, India will become the second country in the world after the United States to send a specialized astronomy observatory to study black holes and neutron stars in our galaxy.
The X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) is aimed to investigate the polarization of intense X-ray sources in space.
According to ISRO, it is the first dedicated scientific satellite from the space agency to carry out research in space-based polarization measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources.
The X-Ray polarization serves as a crucial diagnostic tool for examining the radiation mechanism and geometry of celestial sources.
As per the statement, “The primary payload of XPoSat is POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-Rays) which is designed to measure polarimetry parameters by Raman Research Institute and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing) built by the U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru. The Mission life is about five years.”
ISRO will also launch the state-of-the-art joint venture satellite with NASA, NISAR, in the first quarter of 2024. Built for $1.5 billion, NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) is targeted for launch onboard India’s GSLV rocket.
“Data from NISAR will be highly suitable for studying the land ecosystems, deformation of solid earth, mountain and polar cryosphere, sea ice, and coastal oceans on a regional to global scale,” according to the statement.
