WASHINGTON — India launched an astronomy satellite to start a year that will feature key tests for its human spaceflight program and a potential joint crewed mission with NASA.
A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) lifted off at 10:40 p.m. Eastern Dec. 31 (9:10 a.m. local Jan. 1) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. It deployed its primary payload, the XPoSat spacecraft, into a 650-kilometer orbit about 22 minutes later.
The 469-kilogram satellite carries two instruments to conduct X-ray polarimetry measurements. Astronomers plan to use the data collected by XPoSat to study neutron stars, black holes and supernovae.
After deploying XPoSat, the PSLV’s fourth stage maneuvered to a 350-kilometer orbit. Attached to the upper stage is a payload called PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) 3. It carries 10 experiments, such as fuel cells and thrusters, from ISRO, universities and companies expected to operate for about a month.
Lowering POEM-3 to 350 kilometers is intended to mitigate debris by reducing the orbital lifetime of the upper stage. “As a responsible space agency, we decided to bring the fourth stage to a lower orbit so that the life of the stage in the orbit is much less, so we don’t create debris in that process,” said S Somanath, chairman of ISRO, in remarks after the launch.
The launch was the first of 2024, based on Universal Time. It comes after a record-setting 2023 with about 220 orbital launch attempts worldwide. India conducted seven of those launches using the PSLV, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, all of which were successful.
ISRO expects to roughly double that launch rate in 2024, with 12 to 14 launches planned for the year. Among them will be the GSLV launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Earth science mission, a joint effort of the two space agencies. That mission is slated for launch on March 30, NASA officials said at a session of…
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