Hitchhiking with a friend who is taking a long travel in a car that is only partially occupied saves you a lot of money and makes better use of the resource. On the upcoming PSLV-C53 mission from ISRO, there are modest research payloads (hitchhikers) from Indian start-ups and other places (the half-occupied vehicle going on a long drive). However, this time, ISRO will not only orbit the hitchhiker payloads; in addition, it will offer a stable orbiting platform for them. The PSLV Orbital Experimental Module, or ‘POEM,’ is the name of this new ISRO experiment. WION describes the purpose of ‘POEM’ and how it operates.
Simply put, ‘POEM’ is like a friend who not only provides you with a drop at the destination but also gives you the car, for your use. ‘POEM’ is a technological upgrade over what ISRO had initially attempted in 2019, during the launch of PSLV-C44 mission.
The PS4, or rocket’s fourth stage, served as an orbital platform for ISRO’s 2019 mission, which included conducting space science experiments. In essence, the PSLV is a four-stage rocket, and at various points throughout flight, the first three stages separate and splash back into the water after serving their purpose. The rocket’s last stage, however, disintegrates after putting the satellite in orbit and ends up in space. It is on this PS4 (final stage) that the student-built Kalamsat-V2 payload was placed, so that the latter could piggyback on the former(asking to a friend who not only provides you a drop at the destination, but also gives you the car, for your use)
The last stage will serve as a stabilised orbital platform in the newest PSLV-C53 mission. As stabilisation helps maintain the payload in the proper position with regard to the Earth, sun, etc., an orbital platform that has been stabilised is a substantial improvement over an orbital platform. This could provide the payloads being transported with a number of scientific benefits.
According to ISRO, the power for ‘POEM’ comes from a Li-Ion battery and solar panels installed around the PS4 tank, and the stabilisation is accomplished using a specialised Navigation Guidance and Control system. It uses four sun sensors, a magnetometer, gyros, and NavIC to navigate. It is equipped with specialised control thrusters that store Helium gas. The Indian space agency stated that it has a telecommand option enabled. Two payloads from Indian space startups M/s Digantara and M/s Dhruva Space are among the six payloads carried by POEM, which was made possible by IN-SPACe and NSIL.
ISRO announced on Wednesday night that the countdown for the launch, scheduled for Thursday, June 30, at 6:02 p.m., had started. Three satellites will be launched by the Indian PSLV rocket, including the 155 kg NeuSAR and the 365 kg DS-EO satellites developed by the South Korean company Starec Initiative for Singapore. Scoob-1, the third satellite built by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), is 2.8 kg in weight. It is crucial to remember that the PSLV rocket has a minimum 1,000 kg payload capacity and that the payload mass of Thursday’s mission is just half that amount, making it a vehicle that is only partially occupied.
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