ISRO's historic mission to study black holes, XPoSat, to be launched today | Details inside

Sriharikota: Welcoming 2024 with a bang, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) today, January 01, 2024, using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle(PSLV). The launch is scheduled for 9:10 am from the first launch pad, SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Space enthusiasts can watch the launch launch live on ISRO's official website or its official YouTube channel.  

The XPoSat consists of two payloads- POLIX and XSPECT with both separative objectives. The POLIX payloader is developed by the Raman Research Institute and UR Rao Satellite Centre. Meanwhile, the second payload XSPECT (X-ray SPECtroscopy and Timing) will help the scientists to gather 'soft X-rays' in high spectroscopic resolution.

The space organisation ahead of the PSLV-C58 said, "India's first dedicated polarimetry mission to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions."

"The emission mechanism from various astronomical sources such as blackhole, neutron stars, active galactic nuclei, pulsar wind nebulae etc. originates from complex physical processes and are challenging to understand," it added.

This mission aims to bring substantial benefit to the Astronomy community across the world.

Ahead of the launch, former ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair on ISRO's PSLV-C58/XPoSat launch said, "60th launch of the workhorse, the PSLV will take place on this day (January 1, 2024)... Most of the missions have been successfully completed... This rocket system has evolved as one of the most reliable and cost-effective in the global scenario. Its track record shows that the success rate is more than 95%, and it is better than the global standard as far as the launch systems are concerned. This launch is a significant scientific mission in which it is going to have an observation system for looking at the fundamental phenomena associated with the galaxies, the black holes, the dying stars... It will throw light into the origin of the universe... Spare capacity is being utilized for carrying several small satellites including student satellites from several universities. On this occasion, I wish ISRO a great year with the launch of the Polar SAT launch vehicle (PSLV) on January 1, 2024..."

The mission is poised to play a key role in building expertise in X-ray polarimetry in India, providing a foundation for all future advancements and fostering a collaborative network within the astronomy community.

This comes after the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the moon.