Days after the successful launch of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, ISRO Chairman S Somnath said that the discussions are going on for further Moon-landing missions.
In his inaugural address to the Space Science Technology and Awareness Training (START) programme 2023, the ISRO chief said the agency is almost ready with XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite), India’s first dedicated polarimetry mission to study the dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions. He also said that the preparations for the Aditya-L1 mission, which will be studying the Sun, is underway. Discussions to create a satellite to study the exoplanets is also ongoing. India is also discussing missions to explore planetary objects, such as Venus.
Talking about the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which was launched on July 14, Somanath said he is sure the mission will help find something “very substantial”.
XPoSat mission
The XPoSat will carry two scientific payloads in a low earth orbit, as per ISRO officials. The primary payload will be POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays), which will measure the polarimetry parameters (degree and angle of polarisation) in medium X-ray energy range of 8-30 keV photons of astronomical origin.
The second payload, XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing) payload will be giving spectroscopic information in the energy range of 0.8-15 keV, the officials added.
About Aditya-L1 mission
This mission will be the first mission from India meant to study the Sun. ISRO plans to place the spacecraft in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system. The point is about 1.5 million kilomteres away from the Earth. A satellite in the halo orbit around the L1 point has an advantage of being able to see the Sun without any occultation or eclipses. This will allow for observation of solar activities and its effects on space weather in real time, ISRO said.
The spacecraft carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere and the Sun’s outermost layers (the corona) using electromagnetic and particle and magnetic field detectors.
With the advantage brought by point L1, four payloads directly view the Sun and the remaining three payloads carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields at the Lagrange point L1, thus providing important scientific studies of the propagatory effect of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium.
(With Agency Inputs)