This image taken and released by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on January 1, 2024 shows that on the same day, The PSLV-C58 rocket carrying the X-ray Polar Coordinates Satellite (XPoSat) blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota
The first satellite to study black holes was launched on Monday (January 1) in a bid to deepen its space exploration efforts ahead of an ambitious manned mission next year.
On Monday, the PSLV-C58 rocket carrying the X-ray Polar Satellite (XPoSat) lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India’s main space port.
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman S. Somanath said that the spacecraft was pushed to an orbit of 350 kilometers from the Satish Dhawan Space Center. The space center is located near the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
The satellite, which weighs about 470 kg, will study X-rays emitted by about 50 celestial objects with the help of two payloads built by ISRO and a research institute in Bengaluru.
The U.S. Space Agency (NASA) launched a similar mission in 2021 to study why black holes rotate and other issues through X-ray polar coordinate detectors. In its flagship telescope Chandra X-ray Observatory (Chandra X-ray Observatory) launched more than 20 years ago, ray Observatory) and subsequently made unprecedented discoveries.
A black hole is a large amount of material packed into a very small area, formed from the remnants of a large star that collapsed in a supernova explosion. Their gravity is so strong that light cannot pass through them, making them difficult to detect.
Monday’s satellite launch by the Indian Space Research Organization is part of the country’s broader space goals. India plans to carry out its first manned mission to send astronauts to the south pole of the moon in 2025. Following the successful landing of a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole last year, India is planning to develop next-generation launch vehicles and new launch pads. The goal is to put humans on the moon by 2040.
India has signed the Artemis Accords with the United States. The agreement was developed by NASA and the U.S. State Department to establish norms of behavior in space and on the moon.
India is also seeking more aerospace cooperation with the United States to further its ambitions. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson visited India in November last year, and the US-India joint Earth observation mission is scheduled to be launched in 2024.
