ISRO’s POEM-3 mission accomplishes zero orbital debris mission

The milestone was achieved on March 21, 2024, the ISRO said.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on March 25 said that it has achieved another milestone as the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-3 (POEM-3) met its fiery end through a re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.  

The ISRO said that milestone was achieved on March 21, 2024 and that the PSLV-C58/XPoSat mission has practically left zero debris in orbit.

The PSLV-C58 Mission was accomplished on January 1, 2024.

“After completing the primary mission of injecting all satellites into their desired orbits, the terminal stage of PSLV was transformed into a 3-axis stabilized platform, the POEM-3. The stage was de-orbited from 650 km to 350 km, which facilitated its early re-entry, and was passivated to remove residual propellants to minimize any accidental break-up risks,” the ISRO said.

POEM-3 was configured with a total of 9 different experimental payloads to carry out technology demonstrations and scientific experiments on the newly developed indigenous systems. Out of these, 6 payloads were delivered by NGEs through IN-SPACe. The mission objectives of these payloads were met in a month.