Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has started a new year with a grand success. The PSLV-C58 rocket blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) in Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati district). The launch vehicle successfully injected the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSAT) and ten other satellites into orbit. India became the second country after the US to do so. In 2021, NASA conducted a similar experiment called IXPE. ISRO scientists are delighted.
XPoSAT will study 50 identified bright sources in the universe, including challenging pulsars, black hole X-ray binaries, active galactic nuclei, neutron stars, and non-thermal supernova remnants. The satellite will be placed in a circular orbit of 500-700 km. The XPoSAT has two payloads that will serve for five years. PolyX (Polarimeter instrument in X-rays) X-ray spectroscopy and timing (XPECT) have been fitted. PolyX has been developed by the Raman Research Institute and EXPECT by the Space Astronomy Group of the UR Rao Satellite Centre. XPoSAT will collect data from celestial objects, comets to distant galaxies.
