The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced the achievement of another milestone. ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) has accomplished zero orbital debris mission, as per an announcement made by ISRO on Monday. This was achieved on March 21 when PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-3 (POEM-3) re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, meeting its "fiery end".
The PSLV-C58 Mission was completed on January 1, 2024, after injecting all satellites into their desired orbits. The terminal stage of the PSLV was then transformed into a 3-axis stabilised platform, the POEM-3. The stage was moved from 650 km to 350 km to enable earlier re-entry. It was then made inactive to remove any remaining propellants and reduce the risk of accidental break-up.
"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," ISRO said in a release .
The spacecraft operations team effectively carried out the payload operations from the mission operations complex (MOX) at ISTRAC. ISRO's System for Safe and Sustainable Spacecraft Operations Management (IS4OM) monitored and analysed the orbital decay throughout. Until near re-entry, ISTRAC ground stations tracked POEM-3, and the Multi-Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) at Shriharikota also tracked the PS4 stage until the morning of March 21. Additionally, POEM-3 received support from other centers such as URSC, LPSC, and IISU.
Meanwhile, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved the name 'Shiva Shakti' for the landing site of Chandrayaan-3 on March 19. This decision followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of the mission's success on August 26, 2023.
"IAU working group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name station 'Shiv Shakti' for the landing site of Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander," the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, which provides detailed information about planetary names by IAU said.
