India Launches Satellite Into Space To Study Black Holes
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced a new achievement on Monday, launching its first satellite to study black holes. The move comes as part of the country’s ambitious space exploration project.
The XPoSat satellite was delivered into orbit by the PSLV-C58 launch vehicle, launched from the cosmodrome of the Space Center. Satish Dhawan on the island of Sriharikota in the Bay of Bengal in the state of Andhra Pradesh (India).
The XPoSAT spacecraft, weighing about 470 kg, will study X-ray emissions from about 50 celestial objects using two instruments built by ISRO in collaboration with the Bengaluru-based research institute. The main payload, POLIX (X-ray polarimeter for astronomical observations), will measure polarimetric parameters (degree and angle of polarization), while XSPECT (X-ray spectroscopy and timing instrument) will provide spectroscopic information.
With the launch of XPoSAT, India has become the second country after the United States to have a station for studying black holes and neutron stars, the Indian space agency notes.
The equipment installed on the launch vehicle will allow for 10 more scientific experiments.