WITH the successful launch of its first X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has initiated one of the most ambitious space campaigns in its own journey into deep-space exploration. The PSLV C58 on its 60th mission placed in a low 650 km orbit the primary payload of XPOSat and marked India’s signature on most advanced research project into space. It was only natural for Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi to say later that the launch marked a great start of 2024 as part of the country’s ambitious space programme. Now, India will conduct deep-space research involving Black Holes -- that are figuratively described as Universal Memory Banks storing billions of years of history of the universal processes that often lapse into those very vast black and blank spaces. For India and ISRO, the new exploration will mark a foray into a vaster unknown. Because the ISRO kept seeing big dreams and working to fulfill those, it has become the nation’s darling -- and a global leader of innovativeness in space science. After having completed the Chandrayaan I-II-III missions, the ISRO is now looking forward to other areas of space where exploration its prowess as an organisation of scientists will be on test. The mankind has been trying to know what Black Hole actually is and the latest exploratory mission by ISRO may provide answers to many issues. Of course, the world is now cooperating with ISRO in know-how exchange.

 

But until recently, it kept fighting unstated international embargoes since Indian efforts appeared to infringe upon other countries’ domains. No matter all those restrictions of international politics, the ISRO remained steadfast in its resolve, only now to enjoy a better status and stability in the community of space-faring nations. But initial decades were tough in isolation. Almost every know-how had to be generated with indigenous research -- that cost much money and time. Yet, pioneers like Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. Homi Bhabha and their early disciples faced tremendous hardships in garnering not just know-how but also funds. What ISRO stands for today represents the accumulation of power built into the systems by all those decades of hard work and hardships. That is the reason why ISRO can reel off series of experiments such as Chandrayaan, Gaganyaan, Mangalyaan in addition to many other space voyages for sheer exploration such as the XPOSat C58. The story of ISRO is the story of all this -- plus much more in terms of human excellence and collective resolve to push for the best. Black Holes have always attracted human curiosity like little else did from space.

 

When a massive star in the universe collapses suddenly into a volume that may be smaller than a pinhead, then the vacuum this activity creates is Black Hole. This black and blank space has its own undefinable geography and chemistry and gravitational pull and centrifugal force. ISRO now wishes to launch its own exploration of Black Holes in universal space. There is no doubt that such research will generate for human race a fund of knowledge useful in every which the way. A few other countries, too, may be conducting similar research, and through ISRO India joins the special league -- another mark of India’s global leadership in advanced science. There is no doubt that with this launch, the ISRO has made a great start to the New Year. There is every reason to believe that in the years to come, ISRO will become global leader in a true sense. It will, without doubt, give the country an opportunity to pride in scientific advancement and in the collective human capabilities in technology.