ISRO's Upcoming Projects

ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization):

Various ISRO programs have contributed significantly to India's socio-economic development and supported both civil and military domains in various fields such as disaster management, telemedicine, navigation, and reconnaissance missions. Additionally, ISRO spin-off technologies have led to many vital innovations in the engineering and medical fields throughout India.

Satellites are to be expanded, a rover will land on the Moon, humans will go into space, a semi-cryogenic engine will be developed, more unmanned missions will be sent to the Moon, Mars, Venus, and the Sun will be launched, and space telescopes will be advanced to observe cosmic phenomena and Outer Space beyond the Solar System. The long-term goal of the program is to develop reusable launchers, heavy and super-heavy launch vehicles, to construct a space station, and to send missions to outer planets like Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, as well as manned missions to the moon and planets.

So far, India's Space Research Organization, ISRO, has launched 112 spacecraft missions. It has also launched 82 missions and plans numerous missions. The ISRO also plans to launch 12 student satellites and work with 342 foreign satellites.

Table of Content

• ISRO's Gaganyaan
• ISRO's Chandrayaan-3
• ISRO's Aditya-L1
• ISRO's NISAR
• ISRO's Shukrayaan-1
• ISRO's Mangalyaan-2
• ISRO's Lunar Polar Exploration Mission

1. ISRO's Gaganyaan:

The Gaganyaan mission is a crewed mission of ISRO, which will launch an orbital spacecraft for the development of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. Three people can be transported on the shuttle, and there is also an upgraded version planned with rendezvous and docking capabilities. During this mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will conduct its first crewed mission. Two or three astronauts will be able to ride inside the 5.3-ton space capsule as it orbits the Earth at an altitude of 400 kilometers for up to seven days. Due to lock-down, the crewed mission has been delayed to 2023, rather than its original launch date of December 2021.

In December 2014, ISRO tested its first uncrewed experimental flight on the GSLV Mk III, designed by HAL and attached to the crew module. At present, the crew module design has been finalized. In addition to providing human-centric support technologies such as space-grade food, crew healthcare, radiation measurement and protection, safety parachutes, etc., the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will develop critical human-centric support systems.

2. ISRO's Chandrayaan-3:

ISRO is planning Chandrayaan-3, the third lunar exploration mission after Chandrayaan-2 failed in its attempt at a soft landing on the moon. Following successful orbital insertion, the failure was caused by a last-minute technical error in the soft-landing guidance software. An additional lunar mission named Chandrayaan-3 aimed at demonstrating soft landings on the moon after that incident. Chandrayaan-2 will be repeated, but with only a lander and rover. An orbiter, however, will not be included in the mission.  During the first half of 2022, a probe is expected to launch.

Unlike Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3's lander will have only four throttle-able engines, as opposed to Vikram-2's five 800 Newton engines with the fifth engine positioned centrally. A Laser Doppler Velocimeter will also be on board the Chandrayaan-3 lander.

3. ISRO's Aditya-L1:

The Aditya-L1 probe is an upcoming mission of the Indian Space Research Organization to study the sun. A number of Indian research institutes and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have collaborated on the development of the spacecraft. The solar probe will travel into outer space on a PSLV-C56 rocket, scheduled for launch in 2022. India will launch its first solar mission.

In January 2008, the Advisory Committee of ISRO conceptualized Aditya-L1.  In a halo orbit around 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, the Aditya-L1 mission will be inserted according to the space research organization. This satellite carries a payload weighing 1,500 kilograms. Various scientific instruments are aboard with different purposes. Solar photosphere coupling to chromosphere and corona, coronal heating, solar wind acceleration, coronal magnetometry, near-UV solar radiation origin, and observation of coronal magnetometry, will also be studied by the mission.

4. ISRO's NISAR:

NISAR, short for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, is a mission slated for launch that will be a joint effort between NASA and ISRO. They will develop a synthetic aperture radar with a dual-frequency and launch it together with an Earth observation satellite. Radar imaging satellites will use dual frequencies for the first time, a first in the world. This satellite is expected to be the most expensive in the world, costing an estimated US$1.5 billion. Remote sensing will be used for observing and understanding Earth's natural phenomena using the satellite.

In conjunction with NASA and ISRO, NISAR's radar imaging system will measure the elevation of the land surface and the ice mass of Earth five to six times per month with a resolution of 5 to 10 meters. In addition to examining ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, and natural uncertainties such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and landslides, this project aims to examine the most complex natural processes.

5. ISRO's Shukrayaan-1:

An Indian Space Research Organisation orbiter is being designed for Shukrayaan-1, a future mission designed to study Venus' atmosphere and surface. It received preliminary funding in 2017 for its development. Nearly 100 kilograms of scientific payload would be carried by the orbiter, which would have a power capacity of 500 watts. As the probe orbits elliptically around Venus, its apoapsis distance will be 60,000 km and its periapsis distance will be 500 km. It is planned to launch either in December 2024 or mid-2026.

As part of the mission, the team will study the stratigraphy of the surface and processes of resurfacing, the chemistry, dynamics, and compositional variations of the atmosphere, and interact with the solar wind and the ionosphere of Venus, as well as the structure, composition, and dynamics of the atmosphere.

6. ISRO's Mangalyaan-2:

India’s Space Research Organisation is planning an interplanetary mission to Mars called Mangalyaan-2. An orbiter will be part of the mission. In 2025, the mission is expected to be launched by the ISRO. At the Engineers Conclave conference held on 28 October 2014, ISRO announced that a second Mars mission would be launched following the success of Mars Orbiter Mission-1. This payload was successfully launched on 5 June 2017 on the GSLV Mk III. There are currently no additional details on MOM-2.

7. ISRO's Lunar Polar Exploration Mission:

India's Space Research Organisation and Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency are leading a robotic lunar exploration mission. An exploration of the south polar region of the Moon will be conducted by space agencies in 2024. There are rumors that JAXA is likely to provide the lander and the under-development H3 rocket, while ISRO is expected to provide the rocket.

It should be noted that ISRO has signed an Implementation Arrangement with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for the exploration of the moon's polar regions in search of water, although currently, no funding or planning has been proposed for the mission concept. The launch is likely to occur in 2024.