NEW DELHI, Dec 31: The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) on Tuesday said it facilitated the successful establishment and operationalisation of 10 hosted payloads from Non-Government Entities (NGEs) on board the POEM-4 module of the PSLV-C60/SPADEX Mission launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Monday, its 99th launch from Sriharikota.
The PSLV-C60 mission aims to achieve India’s first in-space docking through the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX). Two satellites, SDX01 and SDX02, will attempt the manoeuvre on January 7, 2025.
“The mission that launched today, carried out in-orbit scientific experiments at an altitude of 350 km with a 55-degree inclination, utilizing the spent PS4 stage repurposed as the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM-4),” said IN-SPACe which is the autonomous nodal agency under Department of Space to promote NGE’s undertake space activities.
POEM is an innovative platform that repurposes the fourth stage of the PSLV into an orbital experiment module after the primary mission. It conducts scientific and technological experiments in orbit. Equipped with essential capabilities like power supply, telemetry, and command support, POEM enables seamless operations for on board experiments. By leveraging existing infrastructure, it offers a cost-effective and rapid development approach for diverse research pursuits.
“The PSLV Orbital Experiment Module (POEM) is a practical solution deployed by ISRO that allows Indian start-ups, academic institutions, and research organizations to test their space technologies without the need to launch entire satellites. By making this platform accessible, we are reducing entry barriers and enabling a wider range of entities to contribute to the space sector. At IN-SPACe, our role is to create opportunities for such collaborations and ensure that India’s private sector can grow alongside advancements in space technology. Missions like these will be instrumental in capacity building by enabling NGEs to get their payloads space qualified, thus augmenting their future satellite launch missions,” Dr Pawan Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe said.
In total 24 PS4-Orbital Experiment Module (POEM-4) payloads were deployed on-board the PSLV-C60 SpaDeX mission to support a wide array of scientific and technological endeavours.
Of these 10 payloads are from NGEs and they include the RV-SAT1 from RV Engineering College from Bengaluru whose mission objective is to study gut bacteria Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and prebiotic effects in microgravity and the APEMS payload from Amity University Maharashtra, Mumbai to study growth-related changes of plant callus in Spinacia oleracea under microgravity and natural gravity.
The ISRO is also gearing up to achieve a significant milestone with a Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle mission scheduled in January set to become the 100th launch from the Sriharikota spaceport, a top official said. The 99th launch from Sriharikota was Monday’s PSLV-C60 mission which successfully placed two spacecraft for conducting the Space Docking Experiment in a circular orbit, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said.
“So, all of you have seen the majestic lift-off and the launch of the SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) rocket, and for us, this is the 99th launch of any vehicle from Satish Dhawan Space Centre so, that is also a very important number. So, we are going for the 100th launch at the beginning of the next year”, he said.
Mr Somanath, also the Secretary, the Department of Space, was talking to reporters after the PSLV-C60 mission successfully placed the Space Docking Experiment spacecraft A and B in a circular orbit. On future launches planned by ISRO, Mr Somanath said, “In 2025, we will have many missions to start with the GSLV launching the (navigation satellite) NVS-02 in the month of January.”
ISRO successfully placed a navigation satellite onboard the GSLV-F12/NVS-01 rocket in May 2023. This GSLV rocket successfully deployed the NVS-01 navigation satellite, weighing about 2,232 kg into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The NVS-01 was the first of the second-generation satellites envisaged for the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) services.
On Monday’s PSLV-C60 mission, Mr Somanath expressed hope that many more Space Docking Experiments would be taken up by the scientists in the coming days. “It is really an important mission with (India’s) space sector reforms and expansion of space activities. There will be many more SpaDeX varieties including complex missions of docking systems in the coming days,” he said.
Meanwhile, referring to the rescheduling of the PSLV-C60 rocket from the earlier planned 9.58 p.m. to 10 pm on December 30, Mr Somanath said, scientists do a conjunction study to check whether a satellite going to an orbit comes very close to another satellite while travelling in the same orbit.
“If you find there is any close proximity (between satellites), then we have to move the current satellite a little bit. Either, we delay it (the launch) or make it early, so that this proximity condition does not occur,” he said. “Scientists undertook time to fix the launch for the lift-off and decide on the best time which gives the maximum distance to be away from the other satellite in the orbit,” he added.
(Manas Dasgupta)
