ISRO launches XPoSat

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) put its first polarimetry mission X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) in a precise circular orbit of 650 km with six-degree inclination.
• It was launched by PSLV-C58 along with 10 other payloads from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

ABOUT XPOSAT

• XPoSat is the world’s second satellite-based mission dedicated to making X-ray polarimetry measurements after NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), launched in 2021.
• X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) is India’s maiden mission dedicated to analysing the polarisation of X-rays emanating from bright celestial sources in the medium frequency band.
• XPoSat will observe two kinds of sources — persistent sources (targeted and known sources) and transient sources (pulsars, active galactic nuclei, magnetars).
• XPoSat comprises two payloads- Indian X-ray Polarimeter (POLIX) and X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing (XSPECT).
• POLIX: It is the world’s first instrument designed to operate in the medium X-ray of 8 to 30 kilo electron Volt (keV) energy band.
  • It will observe a few tens of astronomical sources.
  • It was conceived, designed, and built at Raman Research Institute.
• XSPECT: It is designed to conduct fast timing and high spectroscopic resolution in a soft X-ray energy band (0.8-15 keV).
  • It will observe a variety of sources like X-ray pulsars, black hole binaries, low-magnetic field neutron stars, active galactic nuclei or AGNs and magnetars.