XPoSat launch: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hails ISRO’s “ingenuity and unwavering commitment”

File Photo/PTI

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday hailed ISRO's successful launch of its maiden X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite and hoped that such triumphant missions inculcate the requisite scientific temper among the people.

ISRO on Monday successfully launched its maiden X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite that would offer several insights into celestial objects like black holes.

The X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) is aimed to investigate the polarisation 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 polarisation measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources.

In a post on X, Kharge said, "As we enter the New Year, we are elated to witness the successful launch of PSLV-C58/ XPoSat Mission by @isro."

"It is India's first dedicated polarimetry mission to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions. Many congratulations to all our scientists, space engineers, researchers and ground staff for their ingenuity and unwavering commitment," he said.

"We are proud to know that many women engineers were part of this fabulous team. May these triumphant missions, inculcate the requisite scientific temper among our people, as envisioned by our founders," Kharge said.

The PSLV-C58 rocket, in its 60th mission, carried the primary payload XPoSat and deployed it in an intended 650 km low earth orbit.

Later, scientists performed the orbit lowering maneuver by reducing the altitude to 350 km for conducting the POEM experiment.

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Speaking at the Mission Control Centre, ISRO Chairman S Somanath said "happy new year to all of you."

"So on 1 January 2024, yet another successful mission of PSLV has been accomplished. PSLV-C58 has placed the primary satellite XPoSat in the desired orbit."

US' The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had conducted a similar study -- the Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer mission- in December 2021 on the remnants of supernova explosions, the particle streams emitted by black holes and other cosmic events.

"Let me also announce the orbit that has been accomplished which is available through various routes--it shows excellent orbit and the deviations from the targeted orbit is hardly 3 km in circular orbit of 650 km and inclination is 001 degree which is one of the very excellent orbital conditions," Somanath said.

"And yet another announcement is that the solar panel of the satellite has been deployed successfully," he added. (With inputs from agencies)