| Space Mission |
Description |
| Aditya L1 |
- Launch: September 2, 2023
- Mission: To study the Sun
- The spacecraft executed a series of manoeuvres to move into an orbit around the first earth-Sun Lagrange point, called L1, on January 6, 2024
- Lagrange Points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system like the Sun and Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion.
- It completed its first orbit around L1 on July 2, 2024.
- It studied a solar storm in May 2024 together with observatories on the ground and spacecraft in lunar orbit.
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| Gaganyaan TV-D1 |
- Launch: A modified L-40 Vikas engine to build its Test Vehicle (TV) that it used to perform the first abort mission (TV-D1) on October 21, 2023, as part of its ‘Gaganyaan’ human spaceflight mission.
- Tested: The ability of the Crew Escape System (CES) to separate from the TV
- Take the crew module to safety
- The crew module’s ability to decelerate before splashing down in the Bay of Bengal
- The crew module at the test’s end was recovered by the Indian Navy vessel INS Shakthi
- Gaganyaan is one of ISRO’s primary focus areas of late has been to train its astronaut-candidates, or Gaganyatris, for spaceflight.
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| XPoSat |
- Launch: Its X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) on January 1, 2024
- Study: How radiation is polarised and thus learn more about various sources of radiation in space.
- It is the second such space-based observatory after NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IPEX), launched in 2021.
- The two instruments on board XPoSat, called XSPECT and POLIX, began operating after launch on January 5 and 10.
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| INSAT-3DS |
- Launch: February 17, 2024 onboard a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)
- Significance: To prove the vehicle’s credibility before the critical NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission, now expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2025.
- This version of the GSLV had previously successfully launched the NVS-01 satellite in 2023
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| RLV-TD |
- Launch: ISRO used a downscale version of the Reusable Launch Vehicle, called Pushpak, to conduct two landing experiments (LEX-02 and LEX-03) on March 22 and June 7 at its Aeronautical Testing Range in Challakere, Karnataka.
- Study: The tests simulated landing conditions from space by dropping the Pushpak vehicle from a Chinook helicopter.
- While LEX-02 dropped Pushpak along its landing path, LEX-03 dropped it 500 metres to one side.
- Significance: The success of these tests gave ISRO the confidence to move on to the Orbital Return Flight Experiment (OREX).
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| SSLV |
- Launch: On August 16, ISRO launched the third and final development flight of the SSLV.
- Successful Completion: It placed the EOS-08 and the SR-0 Demosat satellites in orbit.
- With two consecutively successful test flights, ISRO declared the SSLV’s development complete and green-lit its transfer to industry.
- EOS-08 carried three payloads:
- Earth observation in the infrared range
- To demonstrate the use of reflections from a global satellite navigation system for earth observation
- Ultraviolet dosimeter and alarm to be tested ahead of their use in the Gaganyaan crew module.
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| Next-Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) |
- Lunch: Project report submitted in February 2024
- Use of: ISRO has planned for NGLV to be a three-stage launch vehicle powered by a semi-cryogenic engine, a liquid engine, and a cryogenic engine.
- ISRO doesn’t plan to continue the use of the GSLV once the NGLV is ready.
- The PSLV is already under production by a private consortium.
- PSLV is a four-stage vehicle with alternate solid and liquid stages.
- ISRO is working on developing the semi-cryogenic engine for the LVM-3 rocket — another name for the GSLV Mk III — to enhance its launch capability.
- On May 2 and 21, it successfully tested the engine’s pre-burner ignition test article in important milestones.
- GSLV Mk III is a three stage vehicle with two solid motor strap-ons, one liquid propellant core stage and a cryogenic upper stage.
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| NSIL Missions |
- On May 1, ISRO transferred all commercial activities related to Indian Remote Sensing satellite data and products to the NSIL.
- The NSIL signed an agreement with SpaceX to launch the GSAT-20/GSAT-N2 satellite.
- SpaceX is expected to launch it in August 2024 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- On May 10, the NSIL also released a request for qualification for the production of LVM-3 through a public-private partnership and signed a dedicated launch service agreement with an Australian private space company to launch the SSLV.
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| Private Space Missions |
- Agnikul Cosmos: Successfully launched its SoRTeD-01 vehicle from its launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on March 21.
- This was the first launch of a vehicle powered by a semi-cryogenic engine as its first stage from Indian soil.
- Skyroot Aerospace: It is progressing towards the launch of its launch vehicle, Vikram 1.
- It had previously pressure-tested its solid-fuel engines between May and July 2024 and launched a test vehicle called Vikram S from Sriharikota on November 18, 2022.
- Dhruva Space and Bellatrix Aerospace: Experiments on the fourth and final stages of the PSLV-C58 mission on January 1.
- In this mission, the fourth stage turned itself into a small satellite, giving the payloads onboard an orbiting platform to conduct their studies.
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| IN-SPACe |
The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) is an autonomous agency under the Department of Space (DOS) that was established to facilitate the participation of private players in the space sector.
- It has released the ‘Norms, Guidelines, and Procedures for Authorisation of Space Activities’ on May 3.
- Granted India’s first satellite broadband licence to Eutelsat OneWeb on November 21, 2023
- Granted the first licence for a ground station as a service by Dhruva Space on July 15.
- On February 21, the Government of India amended its foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to allow 100% direct FDI in all space and spaceflight segments.
- Except for a 74% ceiling in satellite manufacturing and operations and 49% in launch infrastructure.
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August 23, 2024
