ISRO developed the first indigenous dust detector Dust Experiment ‘DEX’

According to the study of its first Dust Experiment (DEX), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed that approximately one interplanetary dust particle enters the Earth’s atmosphere every 1,000 seconds.

• In its first experiment to measure small atmospheric dust particles suspended around the Earth, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on January 5, 2026 confirmed that approximately one interplanetary dust particle enters the Earth’s atmosphere every 1,000 seconds (or about 16 minutes).
• ISRO developed the Dust Experiment (DEX), which is a 3 kilogram instrument. DEX was flown on the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) of the PSLV-C58 ‘XPoSat mission’ on January 1, 2024, and it was taken to an altitude of 350 km.
• The 140° wide-view detector successfully logged signals of orbital debris (dust) impacts during January 01 to February 09, 2024.

Manufacturer of the Dust Experiment (DEX)

• DEX, built by the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, is the first-of-its-kind instrument designed to detect such hyper-velocity particles. This detection was reported during experimental tests conducted in early 2024.
• In a statement issued on January 5, ISRO said, "The 140° wide-view detector of DEX successfully recorded signals of orbital debris impacts during January 1 to 9, 2024. While passing through the atmosphere at an inclination of 9.5°, the detector recorded several hits."

Dust Experiment ‘DEX’

• At present, we do not have any measurement of cosmic dust in the dense atmosphere of Venus or the thin atmosphere of the red planet Mars. DEX is a blueprint of a detector that can study cosmic dust particles on any planet, whether it has an atmosphere or not.
• The proven success of DEX orbiting the Earth can provide the first direct measurement of IDP inside the unknown atmosphere of Venus or Mars, but can also provide new measurements around the Moon.
• The Earth’s atmosphere is mainly composed of gaseous matter along with suspended solid particles, or dust, which originate from comets, meteoroids, asteroids or similar hard-bodied celestial objects.
• At the core of DEX is the dust detector, which works on the hypervelocity principle, and is designed to capture the impacts of high-speed space dust with only 4.5 watts.
• When a projectile or solid particle moves at a speed of more than 4 km/second, the impact can result in complete disintegration or melting of the projectile, which can endanger the life of the mission.
• For example, space debris is known to travel at 14 km/second and even higher speeds for meteoroids.

XPoSat:

• XPoSat means X-ray Polarimeter Satellite. It is India’s pioneering polarimetry mission, whose objective is to study the various dynamics of astronomical sources in extreme conditions.
• After the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) promoted by NASA in the year 2021, this is the world’s second polarimetry mission using X-rays.
• XPoSat has been developed in collaboration between ISRO and Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, Karnataka.

ISRO

• In India, space research activities began in the 1960s under the leadership of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the founder of the Indian space programme.
• Under the leadership of Dr. Sarabhai and Dr. Ramanathan, INCOSPAR (Indian National Committee for Space Research) was started.
• ISRO (ISRO) was established on 15 August, 1969, when it replaced the already existing Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR).
• During 1975-76, the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was conducted. It was considered the 'world’s largest sociological experiment'.
• After this, the 'Kheda Communications Project (KCP)' was started, which served as a field laboratory for need-based and locally specific programme broadcasting in the state of Gujarat.
• During the same period, the first Indian spacecraft 'Aryabhata' was developed and it was launched using a Soviet launcher.