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A large-area spectro-timing X-ray detector aboard an astronomy space mission is ideal for conducting deep studies of bright point sources, such as stellar-mass and supermassive black holes, neutron stars, and white dwarfs. Such an X-ray astronomy satellite could examine and discover a wide range of spectral and timing features, which are excellent probes of fundamental and extreme aspects of physics and astronomy, including strong gravity, dense matter, high magnetic fields, intense radiation, and accretion–ejection mechanisms that cannot be studied in terrestrial laboratories. We will discuss X-ray astronomy, how X-ray studies probe accreting neutron stars and black holes and the contributions of the Indian astronomy satellite, AstroSat. Then, we will discuss a proposed next-generation Indian space mission, with European collaboration, as a legacy of AstroSat, its scientific motivation and its potential role in making India a world leader in X-ray astronomy while sustaining and growing the Indian X-ray astronomy community. |