ISRO organises XPoSat national meet

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) organised a National Meet on its XPoSat mission and released scientific data from the mission to the Indian scientific community. XPoSat is India’s space-based X-ray astronomy observatory, operating in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at approximately 650 km altitude with a 6-degree inclination.

The mission carries two scientific payloads: POLIX, designed to measure the degree and angle of polarization in the medium X-ray energy range of 8–30 keV, and XSPECT, which provides spectroscopic information in the energy range of 0.8–15 keV. The POLIX payload was developed by the Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru, in coordination with ISRO, while XSPECT was developed by U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru. XPoSat was launched on January 1, 2024, aboard PSLV-C58 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), SHAR.

During the event, Dr. V. Narayanan, Chairman of ISRO and Secretary of the Department of Space (DOS), released the maiden 143 GB of datasets, along with relevant tools and a guest observer opportunity for Indian X-ray astronomy researchers to use XPoSat for scientific observations. The meet also included an appraisal of the mission’s performance, with technical sessions covering both XSPECT and POLIX. Approximately 175 participants attended, including over 50 members from Indian universities and research institutes.

In his inaugural address, Dr. Narayanan highlighted the opportunities offered by XPoSat to build more sophisticated astronomical observatories in the future. Former ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar emphasised the importance of engaging students in space-based techniques to study astronomical sources, underlining their potential contributions to global mega projects. Dr. Tirtha Pratim Das, Director of the Space Science Programme, noted that XPoSat represents India’s first attempt to integrate timing, spectroscopy, and polarization of X-rays on a single observation platform, providing holistic insights into astronomical sources.

The XPoSat datasets and supporting tools are now available for access through the Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) portal, enabling Indian researchers and students to contribute to space-based X-ray astronomy studies and capacity building in both science and instrumentation.