ISRO XPOSAT Launch: On the occasion of New Year, ISRO launches new space mission
India has started the year by sending a satellite to gather information about black holes, one of the biggest mysteries in astronomy. At 9.10 am, the first X-ray polarimeter satellite i.e. ‘EXPOSAT’ of the Indian Space Research Organization was launched through the rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C 58. It will go to a height of 650 km in space in just 21 minutes. This will be the 60th mission of this rocket. In this mission, along with Exosat, 10 other satellites will also be placed in low Earth orbit.
Successfully placed 11 satellites, including the X-ray Polarimeter satellite of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), in their orbit. ISRO’s first X-ray Polarimeter satellite (EXPOSAT) will help unravel the mysteries of the X-ray source and study the mysterious world of ‘black holes’. PSLV-C58 successfully placed the X-ray Polarimeter satellite into low Earth orbit.
ISRO said that the aim of this satellite is to detect the polarization of intense X-rays coming from distant space. The mystery of which celestial body they are coming from gives a lot of information about these rays. The importance of knowing X-ray polarization has increased throughout the world. This helps in understanding the objects or structures like black holes, neutron stars (high-mass parts of the star left after the explosion), the nucleus present in the center of the galaxy, etc. This will help in understanding the shape of celestial bodies and the process of creating radiation.
The countdown for the mission started from 8:10 am on Sunday. The launch will take place at 09:10 am from the first launch pad of the Sriharikota space base, 135 km from Chennai. ISRO said that Exposat is designed to work for 5 years, that is, it will be used till the year 2028. A 44.4 meter high PSLV-DL type rocket has been built for the launch. Its lift-off mass will be 260 tonnes. It will first install the exosat at an altitude of 650 km above the Earth. To do this it will take 21 minutes after lift-off. The work will not end here.