26 March 2024 – On Monday, ISRO announced that the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) had completed a mission with no orbital debris, calling it “another milestone”. This was accomplished on March 21 when the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-3 (POEM-3) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, marking its “fiery end”. The space agency said, “The PSLV-C58/XPoSat mission has practically left zero debris in orbit.”
On January 1, the PSLV-C58 mission was completed. According to ISRO, the terminal stage of the PSLV was converted into the POEM-3, a three-axis stabilised platform, once the main task of putting every satellite into the intended orbit was accomplished.
According to the statement, the stage was passivated to eliminate any remaining fuels to reduce the chance of an unintentional break-up and deorbited from 650 km to 350 km, allowing for an early re-entry. Nine distinct experimental payloads were configured aboard POEM-3 to conduct scientific investigations and technological demonstrations on the recently created indigenous technologies.
Conclusion
Non-governmental entities (NGEs) used the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN’ SPACe) to deploy six of these payloads. Within a month, these payloads’ mission goals were accomplished. As a result of atmospheric drag and other natural factors, the upper stage’s orbital height continued to decrease.
