ISRO will launch India’s first X-ray polarimeter satellite by 28 December.
India’s first X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) will be launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.
It aims to investigate the polarisation of intense X-Ray sources.
However, Space-based X-ray astronomy has been established in India.
It primarily focuses on imaging, time-domain studies and spectroscopy, with the upcoming XPoSat mission marking a major value addition in this.
This research, complementing traditional time and frequency domain studies, introduces a new dimension to X-ray astronomy, generating anticipation and excitement within the scientific community.
XPoSat spacecraft carrying two scientific payloads are designated for observation from Low Earth Orbit.
The names of these two payloads are POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing).
With these two payloads, the XPoSat mission is able to simultaneously study the temporal, spectral, and polarization features of bright X-ray sources.
Mission objectives include measurement of X-ray polarization in the energy band of 8–30 keV emanating from X-ray sources, and long-term spectral and temporal study of cosmic X-ray sources in the energy band of 0.8–15 keV.
The life of the mission is expected to be approximately five years.
