The Indian Space Research Organization has a long history of awe-inspiring the rest of the world by completing space missions at remarkably inexpensive prices.
In keeping with this tradition, the ISRO has set its sights on a Venus mission that would cost between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 crore.
"The price will be determined by the level of instrumentation. ISRO chairman S Somanath said, "If you install a lot of payload sensors, the cost would automatically go up."
While foreign space organizations such as NASA spend vast sums of money on space missions, the ISRO prefers to focus on low-cost projects.
ISRO's Chandrayan-1 was a low-cost spacecraft developed for about Rs 386 crore.
The Chandrayaan-2 mission cost Rs 603 crore to develop, and Rs 367 crore to launch. (1 million USD is roughly = 7.8 Crores INR in 2022)
The ISRO chairman said the agency is in the process of approaching the Union government for authorization for the mission, speaking to the media on the sidelines of a national conference on Aerospace Quality and Reliability.
In response to concerns, he said that the timetable for Chandrayan-3 is still being worked out.
Following its Moon and Mars expeditions, the ISRO is considering a Venus trip.
Despite speculations that the ISRO is aiming a December 2024 launch window for the Venus mission, Somanath stated the timeline has yet to be finalized.
It would only be disclosed when the Union government had given its final approval.
The ISRO has worked hard to guarantee that it would be a one-of-a-kind mission.
"We have to be cautious with such pricey missions," he warned.
"We don't want to conduct a Venus expedition just for the fun of it.
We're doing it because of the distinct identity that this mission will establish among all future Venus expeditions.
"That's the aim," Somanath said, adding that the mission would create a lot of data that scientists could use.
Despite the fact that the timetable has yet to be disclosed, the ISRO is well prepared.
"The technology definition, task package, scheduling, and procurement are all complete. But then it needs to go to the government, which will review it and ultimately approve it," he said.
According to him, Chandrayan 3 is now undergoing testing for navigation, instrumentation, and ground simulations.
However, no timetable has been established.
India is preparing to enter the race to get to Venus alongside the US and many other nations after successfully completing Moon and Mars missions.
The mission's goal will be to investigate Venus's poisonous and corrosive atmosphere, which is characterized by clouds of sulfuric acid that blanket the planet.
S Somanath, the head of Isro, said the project has been in the works for years and that the space agency is now "ready to launch an orbiter to Venus." "The project report is complete, the general plans are complete, and the funds have been identified.
"Building and launching a mission to Venus in a very short period of time is doable for India since the capacity exists now," the Isro chairman stated during a daylong seminar on Venusian research.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is a Venus orbiter called designed to examine the planet's surface and atmosphere.
In 2017, funds were given to finish early investigations, and instrument tenders were announced.
The orbiter's scientific payload capabilities, depending on its ultimate design, would be about 100 kilograms (220 lb) with 500 W of power.
At periapsis, the elliptical orbit around Venus is projected to be 500 kilometers (310 miles) long and 60,000 kilometers (37,000 miles) long.
Payload for science.
The scientific payload will be 100 kg (220 lb) in weight and would include equipment from India and other nations.
Indian payloads and 7 foreign payloads have been shortlisted as of December 2019.
Instruments from India
- Venus SAR L&S-Band
- VARTISS (HF radar)
- VSEAM (Surface Emissivity) (Surface Emissivity)
- VCMC (VTC (Thermal Camera)) (Cloud Monitoring)
- LIVE (Lightning Sensor)
- VASP (Spectro Polarimeter)
- SPAV (Solar occultation photometry)
- NAVA (Airglow imager)
- RAVI (RO Experiment)
- * ETA (Electron Temperature Analyzer)
- RPA (Retarding Potential Analyzer)
- Spectrometer of mass
- (Plasma Analyzer)* VISWAS
- VREM (Radiation Environment)
- SSXS (Solar Soft X-ray Spectrometer )
- VIPER (Plasma Wave Detector)
- VODEX (Dust experiment)
- * Collaboration with Germany and Sweden is envisaged for RAVI and VISWAS.
International Payloads
- Terahertz devices are used to create very strong radar pulses. (NASA proposed it. )
- Two Russian payloads, developed by the Russian Space Research Institute and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, have been selected to explore Venus' atmosphere:
- IVOLGA is a laser heterodyne NIR spectrometer used to investigate the structure and dynamics of Venus's mesosphere.
Overview Of The ISRO Shukrayaan Mission
Surface/subsurface stratigraphy and resurfacing processes are among the three broad research areas for this mission; second, study atmospheric chemistry, dynamics, and compositional variations; and third, study solar irradiance and solar wind interaction with Venus' ionosphere while studying the structure, composition, and dynamics of the atmosphere.
Shukrayaan Mission Inception, History And Status
ISRO has been researching the possibility of future interplanetary missions to Mars and Venus, Earth's nearest planetary neighbors, based on the success of Chandrayaan and the Mangalyaan.
- The Venus mission proposal was initially proposed in 2012 at a Tirupati space meet.
- The Indian government increased funding for the Department of Space by 23% in its 2017–18 budget.
- The budget specifies funds "for Mars Orbiter Mission II and Mission to Venus" under the space sciences department, and it was approved to perform preliminary investigations after the 2017–18 request for funding.
- In a radio occultation experiment, ISRO and JAXA worked together from 2016 to 2017 to analyze the Venus atmosphere using signals from the Akatsuki.
ISRO issued a 'Announcement of Opportunity' (AO) on April 19, 2017, requesting scientific payload ideas from Indian universities based on wide mission parameters.
ISRO issued another 'Announcement of Opportunity' on November 6, 2018, soliciting payload applications from the worldwide scientific community.
The allowable scientific payload capacity was reduced from 175 kg in the first AO to 100 kg.
In 2018, India's ISRO and France's CNES had talks about collaborating on this mission and developing autonomous navigation and aerobraking technology together.
- In addition, using his knowledge from the Vega mission, French astronomer Jacques Blamont indicated interest in using inflated balloons to examine the Venusian atmosphere to U R Rao.
- These instrumented balloons may be launched from an orbiter and gather long-term observations while floating in the planet's comparatively benign upper atmosphere, similar to the Vega missions.
- ISRO agreed to investigate a proposal to research the Venusian atmosphere at 55 kilometers (34 miles) altitude with a balloon probe carrying a 10 kilogram (22 pound) payload.
The Venus project is still in the configuration research phase as of late 2018, and ISRO has not yet received complete sanction from the Indian government.
In 2019, IUCAA Director Somak Raychaudhury announced that a drone-like probe was being considered as part of the mission.
ISRO scientist T Maria Antonita stated in a report to NASA's Decadal Planetary Science Committee that the launch would take place in December 2024.
She also said that a backup date in 2026 exists.
ISRO has selected 20 foreign bids as of November 2020, including collaborations with Russia, France, Sweden, and Germany.
ISRO and the Swedish Institute of Space Physics are working together on the Shukrayaan-1 project.
ISRO chairman S. Somanath indicated in May 2022 that the mission will launch in December 2024, with a backup launch window in 2031.
Shukrayaan Mission Salient Features
Type of mission Shukrayaan-1: Venus orbiter
Operator: ISRO
Planned mission duration: 4 years
Spacecraft characteristics:
Manufacturer: ISAC
2,500 kg launch mass (5,500 lb)
100 kilogram payload mass (220 lb)
Payload power is 500 watts (0.67 horsepower).
December 2024 is the scheduled launch date (planned)
Launch Vehicle: GSLV Mark II rocket
SDSC SHAR Contractor : ISRO Launch Site
Missions Primary Components:
- Orbiter of Venus
- Atmospheric probe for Venus
- Aerobot balloon is a spacecraft component.
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