The Indian Space Programme is on the cusp of important new beginnings with government approval for new projects like work on a new rocket and new moon and Venus missions.
- Space Vision 2047: India Aims for its own Space Station and Moon Landing by 2040.
Recent Key Approvals By the Indian Government For the Indian Space Programme
- Gaganyaan and Space Station Missions: The Government has approved four new missions under the ‘Gaganyaan’ human spaceflight program.
- Four missions to test technologies for India’s first space station, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station 1, expected by 2028.
- Additional funding of Rs 11,170 crore was allocated for these missions.
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- Gaganyaan: It envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3 days mission and bringing them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.
- Bhartiya Antriksh Station (BAS) will be India’s own space station for scientific research.
- Currently, the only two functioning space stations are the International Space Station and China’s Tiangong.
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- Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV): Development of the NGLV has been approved with an allocated Rs 8,240 crore, covering costs of the rocket’s first three development flights.
- New Launch Pad at Sriharikota: Has been approved for testing and launching the NGLV.
- Next-Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV): The Next Generation Launch Vehicle or NGLV or “Soorya” is a three-stage partially reusable Heavy-lift launch vehicle, currently under development by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
- NGLV is designed to deliver 3 times the current payload capability at 1.5 times the cost of the LVM3.
- Capable of carrying up to 30 tonnes to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with a reusable first stage, promoting cost-effective and sustainable space access.
- Incorporates modular green propulsion systems.
- Space-Based Surveillance (SBS): The Cabinet has approved the third phase of the Space Based Surveillance (SBS) missions, which includes 52 satellites for Rs 26,968 crore.
Space-Based Surveillance (SBS)
- The SBS project aims to enhance land and maritime domain awareness for civilian and military applications through 52 new satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary orbit (GEO).
- LEO Satellites: Provide high-resolution imaging for tracking ground movements.
- GEO Satellites: Enable broader surveillance of key regions.
- Significance: These satellites will monitor infrastructure development by adversaries along India’s borders, particularly the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and the India-Pakistan border.
- To detect and counter hostile submarines and naval forces in the Indian Ocean, crucial for safeguarding India’s maritime security amid China’s expanding influence.
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Upcoming Satellite Launches
- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3): A PSLV by Hindustan Aeronautics, Ltd., and Larsen & Toubro is anticipated by late 2024 or early 2025.
- New Space India, Ltd. will select a private entity to commercialise the LVM-3.
- NewSpace India Limited is a Public Sector Undertaking of the Government of India and under the Department of Space.
Facts about Venus
- Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and Earth’s closest planetary neighbour.
- It is the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon.
- It spins slowly in the opposite direction from most planets.
- It is similar in structure and size to Earth, and is sometimes called Earth’s evil twin.
- It is the hottest planet in our solar system as the thick atmosphere traps heat in a runaway greenhouse effect.
- Below the dense, persistent clouds, the surface has volcanoes and deformed mountains.
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- Venus Mission: A Venus Orbiter Mission is scheduled for a March 2028 launch window, costing Rs 1,236 crore.
- With the mission, scientists hope to study the planet’s acerbic surface and atmosphere to understand how different planets of the Solar System evolved.
- Chandrayaan-4: It will be a sample-return mission, with a budget of Rs 2,104 crore.
- Dual Launch Strategy: Its components will be launched on two separate LVM-3 launch vehicles.
- Earth Orbit Docking: They will dock in earth orbit before going to the moon, and land on the surface near the location of Chandrayaan 3.
- Sample Collection: The lander will scoop up samples of lunar soil and rock for analysis.The samples will be transported back to Earth in a specially designed canister.
| The Space Commission formulates the policies and oversees the implementation of the Indian space programme. |
- Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX): The Space Commission also approved a joint moon mission with Japan called the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX).
- LUPEX is also known as Chandrayaan-5 in India.
- For LUPEX, ISRO is developing a different moon lander than the one it used for Chandrayaan-3 (Vikram Lander) , and which it hopes can be used in crewed lunar missions in future.
International Collaborations
- NISAR Satellite: The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) will be launched via a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in early 2025.
- The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) is an earth-observation satellite.
- Proba-3 Mission: It is a mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) to study the Sun’s corona and is scheduled for a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL (PSLV-XL) launch on November 29, 2024.
- Dual-Satellite Solar Observation Mission: It will have two satellites flying in formation:
- One Satellite will gaze at the Sun;
- The other one will block the first satellite’s view of the Sun’s central area, like creating an eclipse, leaving only light from the corona to hit the cameras.
- India previously launched Proba-1 on the PSLV-C3 mission, in 2001.
| A Green Propulsion System is an environmentally friendly technology that uses propellants producing fewer toxic byproducts to minimise harmful emissions in space missions. |
Private Sector Innovations
- Green Propulsion Technology: Manastu Space has partnered with Dhruva Space to test its green propulsion technology for Dhruva’s Launching Expeditions for Aspiring Payloads (LEAP-3) mission.
- LEAP-3 will carry payloads from different companies in 2025.
- Manastu is developing a green propulsion system using a hydrogen-peroxide-based fuel.
- It first tested LEAP on the PSLV-C58 mission on January 1 this year.
- Project 200 by Bellatrix Aerospace: Project 200 is a prototype for a satellite designed for ultra-low earth orbits at an altitude of 200 km.
- Space Docking Experiment: Ananth Technologies became the first private Indian company to assemble, integrate, and test two Space Docking Experiment (SpaDEx) satellites for ISRO at the company’s facility in Bengaluru.
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Recent Achievement and Scientific Discoveries
- Chandrayaan-3’s Landing Site: Scientists discovered that the crater near the landing site of Chandrayaan-3 is older than the South Pole Aitken Basin.
- This was based on data from the Optical High-Resolution Camera onboard the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and navigational cameras on board Pragyaan, the Chandrayaan-3 rover.
- Astrosat’s Extended Mission Life: Originally planned for five years, Astrosat has been operational for nine years and is projected to last an additional two years, supporting over 400 research papers.
- AstroSat is India’s first dedicated astronomy mission, designed to simultaneously study celestial sources in X-ray, optical, and ultraviolet spectral bands.
- India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its thirty-first flight (PSLV-C30) launched the 1515 kg AstroSat into a 650 km orbit from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
October 28, 2024
