ISRO To Pen New Year 'POEM' In Space, Creating "Wealth From Waste"

The 'PSLV Orbital Experimental Module', or POEM, will have 10 experiments, including a 'Women Engineered Satellite'. It will be launched with an observatory to study neutron stars and black holes on New Year's Day.

When India launches its specialised observatory to study neutron stars and black holes on New Year's Day on Monday, it will also send a 'POEM' up into space.

The 'PSLV Orbital Experimental Module', or POEM, will be the fourth stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, which will undertake its 60th flight and carry the XPoSAT, or the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite as its primary payload. The POEM will have 10 experiments, the highlight of which will be a 'Women Engineered Satellite' (WESAT) made by an institute in Thiruvananthapuram.

This is the third flight of POEM, which can easily be described as a low-cost, non-human Indian space station. "The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is creating wealth from waste in space," asserted S Somanath, chairman of the space agency.