ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) successfully launched XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite) on Monday (January 1, 2024), first day of the new year. The lift-off took place from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. With XpoSat’s successful launch, India has become second country after the United States to send an observatory in space to study black holes and neutron stars.

XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite) is the first dedicated scientific satellite from ISRO to carry out research in space-based polarisation measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources. The Satellite configuration is modified from the IMS-2 bus platform. The Configuration of the mainframe systems are derived based on the heritage of IRS satellites. It carries two payloads namely POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing). POLIX is realized by Raman Research Institute and XSPECT is by Space Astronomy Group of URSC,” said ISRO.