Source: This post on PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) has been created based on the article “ISRO’s ‘zero orbital debris’ milestone” published in “The Hindu” on 12 April 2024.
Why in the news?
ISRO’s PSLV-C58/XPoSat mission successfully deployed the XPoSat satellite and converted the PSLV’s last stage into the POEM-3 module, leaving no debris in Earth’s orbit.
About PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM)
1. The PSLV Orbital Experimental Module is a platform that will help perform in-orbit experiments using the final stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
2. It was developed by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
3. It was used for the first time in the PSLV-C53 mission in June 2022. ISRO had POEM orbit the earth to perform in-orbit scientific experiments with various payloads onboard.
4. How it works:
a) POEM is powered by solar panels mounted on the fuel tank of the rocket’s fourth stage and a lithium-ion battery.
b) It has a navigation, guidance, and control (NGC) system to stabilise its altitude along with helium control thrusters.
c) The NGC system has four Sun sensors, a magnetometer, and gyroscopes. It also has a telecommand system to communicate with the ground station.
d) It communicates to ISRO’s NavIC satellite constellation for navigation.
5. Earlier use of PS4 rocket junk: ISRO first demonstrated the capability of using PS4 as an orbital platform in 2019 with the PSLV-C44 mission that injected Microsat-R and Kalamsat-V2 satellites into their designated orbits. The fourth stage in that mission was kept alive as an orbital platform for space-based experiments.
Achievement of POEM-3
1. ISRO’s PSLV C-58 mission successfully launched the XPoSat satellite into a 650 km orbit and converted its fourth stage into the POEM-3 module at 350 km for experiments.
2. It features nine payloads. POEM-3 completed 400 orbits and conducted several experiments over 25 days.
3. After two months, POEM-3 re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on March 21, 2024, disintegrating successfully with all objectives met.
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