ISRO to make space garbage-free; zero debris re-entry of POEM successful

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ISRO is receiving a flood of accolades for the zero debris re-entry of a rocket, proving that space can also be made litter-free. The PSLVC-58 rocket, which was launched on January 1 with the Exposat satellite for black hole study, was completely passivated without leaving it as space junk.

The launch was in an orbit at an altitude of 650 km. Three of the rocket's four stages burned up by the time it reached orbit with the satellite. The satellite was in the fourth part. After the launch of the satellite, ISRO used the PS4 called the PSLV Orbiter Experimental Module (POEM) as a laboratory. This time POEM had about nine instruments provided by various universities and institutes. After a month of operation, the unused POEM was brought back to earth for disposal.

POEM was brought down 350 km from an altitude of 650 km by burning fuel and operating control systems. POEM was launched into Earth's atmosphere on March 21 at 7:34 p.m. With that, POEM, which was on fire, was dropped in a safe area in the North Pacific Ocean.

It is being considered a commendable mission in the field of space. Space agencies including NASA and Ross Cosmos hailed it as a step towards a litter-free space.