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

ISRO achieves milestone as PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-3 re-enters Earth's atmosphere with zero debris, completing successful mission.

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.