Edited by Deepali Verma
Karan Jani, a professor of Astrophysics at a US-based university, praised the successful launch of Bharat’s maiden X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) to study black holes and neutron stars. Jani said that the country is taking the lead in several frontiers of space science and that is ‘very inspiring.’
The Professor of Astrophysics at Vanderbilt University, remarked that this is the most exciting time to study black holes and Bharat happens to be the key player studying this.
“It is very inspiring to see Bharat taking the lead in several frontiers in space science. Black holes are very close to me and it has been my area of research for a long time. Bharat has already shown that they’re in and going ahead with the LIGO India project, with the XPoSat and they’ve also recently joined the square kilometre array…,” he said while in conversation with ANI.
The Indian Space Research Organisation started the new year with the launch of the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) to study the X-ray emissions from various celestial sources.
In an address to the scientists after the successful launch of the mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath said the PSLV-C58 vehicle has placed the satellite precisely into the intended orbit of 650 km, with a 6-degree inclination.
“Moving forward, the orbit of the PSLV will be reduced to a lower orbit. The upper stage of the PSLV, which is now described as POEM, will carry out experiments with nine of the onboard payloads which is expected to take some time,” Somanath added.
It is Bharat’s primary observation of black holes, though other countries have engaged in such studies earlier. ISRO chief Somanath said it took close to 7 years to build this satellite. “We want to develop at least 100 scientists who have an understanding of this aspect and contribute to the knowledge of black holes to the world,” he added.
Bharat had a stellar display of prowess in 2023 with the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the moon and the launch of Aditya-L1, Bharat’s first solar mission. These milestones have not only secured Bharat’s standing in the global space economy but has also fueled the engines for the private space sector in Bharat.
Bharat currently aims for the Gaganyaan Mission in 2024-2025, setting up ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ by 2035. It also aims to send the first Bharatiya to the Moon by 2040.
