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Planet Worldwide
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO/Bhāratīya Antarikṣa Anusandhāna Saṅgaṭhana) is the primary space agency of India. ISRO is amongst the largest government space agencies in the world. Its primary objective is to advance space technology and use its applications for national benefit.
Established in 1969, ISRO superseded the erstwhile Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR). Headquartered in Bangalore, ISRO is under the administrative control of the Department of Space, Government of India.
Since its establishment, ISRO has achieved numerous milestones. It built India's first satellite, Aryabhata, which was launched by the Soviet Union in 1975. In 1980, Rohini became the first satellite to be placed in orbit by an Indian-made launch vehicle, SLV-3. ISRO subsequently developed two other rockets: the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for launching satellites into polar orbits and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) for placing satellites into geostationary orbits. These rockets have launched numerous communications satellites and earth observation satellite. In 2008,Chandrayaan-1, India sent its first mission to the Moon.
Over the years, ISRO has conducted a variety of operations for both Indian and foreign clients. ISRO's satellite launch capability is mostly provided by indigenous launch vehicles and launch sites. In 2008, ISRO successfully launched its first lunar probe,Chandrayaan-1, while future plans include indigenous development of GSLV, manned space missions, further lunar exploration, mars exploration and interplanetary probes. ISRO has several field installations as assets, and cooperates with the international community as a part of several bilateral and multilateral agreements. In 2013, ISRO launched its Mars Orbiter Mission, which is currently on-route to Mars.
Formative years
Modern space research in India is most visibly traced to the 1920s, when the scientist S. K. Mitra conducted a series of experiments leading to the sounding of the ionosphere by application of ground based radio methods in Calcutta. Later, Indian scientists like C.V. Raman and Meghnad Saha contributed to scientific principles applicable in space sciences.However, it was the period after 1945 which saw important developments being made in coordinated space research in India. Organised space research in India was spearheaded by two scientists: Vikram Sarabhai—founder of the Physical Research Laboratory atAhmedabad—and Homi Bhabha, who had played a role in the establishment of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1945. Initial experiments in space sciences included the study of cosmic radiation, high altitude and airborne testing of instruments, deep underground experimentation at the Kolar mines—one of the deepest mining sites in the world – and studies of the upper atmosphere. Studies were carried out at research laboratories, universities, and independent locations.
In 1950, the Department of Atomic Energy was founded with Homi Bhabha as its secretary.The Department provided funding for space research throughout India. During this time, tests continued on aspects of meteorology and the Earth's magnetic field, a topic which was being studied in India since the establishment of the observatory at Colaba in 1823. In 1954, the Uttar Pradesh state observatory was established at the foothills of the Himalayas. The Rangpur Observatory was set up in 1957 at Osmania University, Hyderabad. Both these facilities enjoyed the technical support and scientific cooperation of the United States of America. Space research was further encouraged by the technically inclined Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.In 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik and opened up possibilities for the rest of the world to conduct a space launch. INCOSPAR was found in 1962 with Vikram Sarabhai as its chairman.
Goals and objectives
The prime objective of ISRO is to develop space technology and its application to various national tasks. The Indian space programme was driven by the vision of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, considered the father of Indian Space Programme. As he said in 1969:
| “ | There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the Moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society. | ” |
As the former Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam said:
| “ | Many individuals with myopic vision questioned the relevance of space activities in a newly independent nation, which was finding it difficult to feed its population. Their vision was clear if Indians were to play meaningful role in the community of nations, they must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to their real-life problems. They had no intention of using it as a means of displaying our might. | ” |
India's economic progress has made its space programme more visible and active as the country aims for greater self-reliance in space technology. Hennock etc. hold that India also connects space exploration to national prestige, further stating: "This year India has launched 11 satellites, including nine from other countries—and it became the first nation to launch 10 satellites on one rocket." ISRO has successfully put into operation two major satellite systems namely Indian National Satellites (INSAT) for communication services and Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites for management of natural resources. ISRO has also developed the PSLV for launching IRS type of satellites and GSLV for launching INSAT type of satellites.
On July 2012, the former President, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam said that research was being done by ISRO and DRDO for developing cost reduction technologies for access to space.
Launch vehicle fleet
During the 1960s and 1970s, India initiated its own launch vehicle programme owing to geopolitical and economic considerations. In the 1960s–1970s, the country successfully developed a sounding rockets programme, and by the 1980s, research had yielded the Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 and the more advanced Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), complete with operational supporting infrastructure. ISRO further applied its energies to the advancement of launch vehicle technology resulting in the creation of PSLV and GSLV technologies.
Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV)
The Satellite Launch Vehicle, usually known by its abbreviation SLV or SLV-3 was a 4-stage solid-fuel light launcher. It was intended to reach a height of 500 km and carry a payload of 40 kg. Its first launch took place in 1979 with 2 more in each subsequent year, and the final launch in 1983. Only two of its four test flights were successful.
Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV)
The Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle, usually known by its abbreviation ASLV was a 5-stage solid propellant rocket with the capability of placing a 150 kg satellite into LEO. This project was started by the ISRO during the early 1980s to develop technologies needed for a payload to be placed into a geostationary orbit. Its design was based on Satellite Launch Vehicle. The first launch test was held in 1987, and after that 3 others followed in 1988, 1992 and 1994, out of which only 2 were successful, before it was decommissioned.
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, usually known by its abbreviation PSLV, is an expendable launch system developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites into Sun synchronous orbits, a service that was, until the advent of the PSLV, commercially viable only from Russia. PSLV can also launch small satellites into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). The reliability and versatility of the PSLV is proven by the fact that it has launched 65 satellites / spacecraft ( 30 Indian and 35 Foreign Satellites) into a variety of orbits so far. In April 2008, it successfully launched 10 satellites at once, breaking a world record held by Russia.
On 5 November 2013 the PSLV flew its 24th consecutive successful launch mission. Its only failure in 25 flights was its maiden voyage in September 1993, providing the rocket with a 96 percent success rate.
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, usually known by its abbreviation GSLV, is an expendable launch system developed to enable India to launch its INSAT-type satellites into geostationary orbit and to make India less dependent on foreign rockets. At present, it is ISRO's heaviest satellite launch vehicle and is capable of putting a total payload of up to 5 tons to Low Earth Orbit. The vehicle is built by India with the cryogenic engine purchased from Russia while the ISRO develops its own engine programme.
In a setback for ISRO, the attempt to launch the GSLV, GSLV-F06 carrying GSAT-5P, failed on 25 December 2010. The initial evaluation implies that loss of control for the strap-on boosters caused the rocket to veer from its intended flight path, forcing a programmed detonation. Sixty-four seconds into the first stage of flight, the rocket began to break up due to the acute angle of attack. The body housing the 3rd stage, the cryogenic stage, incurred structural damage, forcing the range safety team to initiate a programmed detonation of the rocket.
On 5 January 2014, GSLV D5 successfully launched GSAT-14 into intended orbit. This also marked first successful flight using indigenous cryogenic engine, making India sixth country in the world to have this technology.
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III (GSLV III)
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III is a launch vehicle currently under development by the Indian Space Research Organisation. It is intended to launch heavy satellites into geostationary orbit, and will allow India to become less dependent on foreign rockets for heavy lifting. The rocket, though the technological successor to the GSLV, however is not derived from its predecessor.According to latest information available maiden flight is scheduled to take place in April 2014.
Earth observation and communication satellites
India's first satellite, the Aryabhata, was launched by the Soviet Union on 19 April 1975 from Kapustin Yar using a Cosmos-3M launch vehicle. This was followed by the Rohini series of experimental satellites which were built and launched indigenously. At present, ISRO operates a large number of earth observation satellites.
The INSAT series
INSAT (Indian National Satellite System) is a series of multipurpose geostationary satellites launched by ISRO to satisfy the telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology and search-and-rescue needs of India. Commissioned in 1983, INSAT is the largest domestic communication system in the Asia-Pacific Region. It is a joint venture of the Department of Space, Department of Telecommunications, India Meteorological Department, All India Radioand Doordarshan. The overall coordination and management of INSAT system rests with the Secretary-level INSAT Coordination Committee.
The IRS series
Indian Remote Sensing satellites (IRS) are a series of earth observation satellites, built, launched and maintained by ISRO. The IRS series provides remote sensing services to the country. The Indian Remote Sensing Satellite system is the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites for civilian use in operation today in the world. All the satellites are placed in polar Sun-synchronous orbit and provide data in a variety of spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions to enable several programmes to be undertaken relevant to national development. The initial versions are composed of the 1 (A,B, C, D) nomenclature. The later versions are named based on their area of application including OceanSat, CartoSat, Resource Sat.
Radar Imaging Satellites
ISRO currently operates two Radar Imaging Satellites.RISAT-1 was launched from Sriharikota Spaceport on 26 April 2012 on board a PSLV.RISAT-1 carries a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, operating in a multi-polarisation and multi-resolution mode and can provide images with coarse, fine and high spatial resolutions. India also operates RISAT-2which was launched in 2009 and acquired from Israel at a cost $110 million.
Other satellites
ISRO has also launched a set of experimental geostationary satellites known as the GSAT series. Kalpana-1, ISRO's first dedicated meteorological satellite, was launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on 12 September 2002. The satellite was originally known as MetSat-1. In February 2003 it was renamed to Kalpana-1 by the Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in memory ofKalpana Chawla – a NASA astronaut of Indian origin who perished in Space Shuttle Columbia.
ISRO has also successfully launched the Indo-French satellite SARAL on 25 February 2013, 12:31 UTC.SARAL or Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa is a cooperative altimetry technology mission. It is being used for monitoring the oceans surface and sea-levels.AltiKa will measure ocean surface topography with an accuracy of 8 mm, against 2.5 cm on average using current-generation altimeters, and with a spatial resolution of 2 km.
Satellite navigation
GAGAN
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to implement an indigenous Satellite-Based Regional GPS Augmentation System also known as Space-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) as part of the Satellite-Based Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS)/Air Traffic Management (ATM) plan for civil aviation. The Indian SBAS system has been given an acronym GAGAN – GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation. A national plan for satellite navigation including implementation of Technology Demonstration System (TDS) over the Indian air space as a proof of concept has been prepared jointly by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and ISRO. TDS was successfully completed during 2007 by installing eight Indian Reference Stations (INRESs) at eight Indian airports and linked to the Master Control Centre (MCC) located near Bangalore.
The first GAGAN navigation payload has been fabricated and it was proposed to be flown on GSAT-4 during Apr 2010. However, GSAT-4 was not placed in orbit as GSLV-D3 could not complete the mission. Two more GAGAN payloads will be subsequently flown, one each on two geostationary satellites, GSAT-8 and GSAT-10. On 12 May 2012, ISRO announced the successful testing of its indigenous cryogenic engine for 200 seconds for its forthcoming GSLV-D5 flight.
The IRNSS series
IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area. IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS) and is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area. It is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system being developed by Indian Space Research Organisation which would be under total control of Indian government. The requirement of such a navigation system is driven by the fact that access to Global Navigation Satellite Systems like GPS are not guaranteed in hostile situations. ISRO plans to launch the constellation of satellites between 2012 and 2014.
ISRO on 1 July 2013, at 23:41Hrs IST launched from Sriharikota the First Indian Navigation Satellite the IRNSS-1A. The IRNSS-1A was launched aboard PSLV-C22. The constellation would be comprising 7 satellites of I-1K bus each weighing around 1450 Kilograms, with three satellites in the Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and 4 in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit(GSO). The constellation would be completed around 2015.
Human spaceflight programme
The Indian Space Research Organisation has proposed a budget of 
12400 crore(US$2.0 billion) for its human spaceflight programme. According to the Space Commission which recommended the budget, an unmanned flight will be launched after 7 years of final approval. and a manned mission will be launch after 7 years of funding. If realised in the stated time-frame, India will become the fourth nation, after the USSR, USA and China, to successfully carry out manned missions indigenously.
12400 crore(US$2.0 billion) for its human spaceflight programme. According to the Space Commission which recommended the budget, an unmanned flight will be launched after 7 years of final approval. and a manned mission will be launch after 7 years of funding. If realised in the stated time-frame, India will become the fourth nation, after the USSR, USA and China, to successfully carry out manned missions indigenously.Technology demonstration
The Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SCRE or more commonly SRE or SRE-1) is an experimental Indian spacecraft which was launched using the PSLV C7 rocket, along with three other satellites. It remained in orbit for 12 days before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and splashing down into the Bay of Bengal. The SRE-1 was designed to demonstrate the capability to recover an orbiting space capsule, and the technology for performing experiments in the microgravity conditions of an orbiting platform. It was also intended to test thermal protection, navigation, guidance, control, deceleration and flotation systems, as well as study hypersonic aero-thermodynamics, management of communication blackouts, and recovery operations. ISRO also plans to launch SRE-2 and SRE-3 in the near future to test advanced re-entry technology for future manned missions.
Astronaut training and other facilities
ISRO will set up an astronaut training centre in Bangalore to prepare personnel for flights on board the crewed vehicle. The centre will use simulation facilities to train the selected astronauts in rescue and recovery operations and survival in zero gravity, and will undertake studies of the radiation environment of space. ISRO will build centrifuges to prepare astronauts for the acceleration phase of the mission. It also plans to build a new Launch pad to meet the target of launching a manned space mission in 7 years of funding clearance. This would be the third launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
Development of crew vehicle
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working towards a maiden manned Indian space mission vehicle that can carry three astronauts for seven days in a near earth orbit. The Indian manned spacecraft temporarily named as Orbital Vehicle intends to be the basis of indigenous Indian human spaceflight programme. The capsule will be designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with a rendezvous and docking capability. In its maiden manned mission, ISRO's largely autonomous 3-ton capsule will orbit the Earth at 248 miles (400 km) in altitude for up to seven days with a two-person crew on board. The crew vehicle would launch atop of ISRO's GSLV Mk II, currently under development. The GSLV Mk II features an indigenously developed cryogenic upper-stage engine. The first test of the cryogenic engine, held on 15 April 2010, failed as the cryogenic phase did not perform as expected and rocket deviated from the planned trajectory.However the second test of the indigenous cryogenic engine was successful on 5 January 2014.
Planetary sciences and astronomy
India's space era dawned when the first two-stage sounding rocket was launched from Thumba in 1963. Even before this, noteworthy contributions were made by the Indian scientists in the following areas of space science research:
- Cosmic rays and high energy astronomy using both ground based as well as balloon borne experiments/studies such as neutron/meson monitors, Geiger Muller particle detectors/counters etc.
- Ionospheric research using ground based radio propagation techniques such asionosonde, VLF/HF/VHF radio probing, a chain of magnetometer stations etc.
- Upper atmospheric research using ground based optical techniques such as Dobson spectrometers for measurement of total ozone content, air glow photometers etc.
- Indian astronomers have been carrying out major investigations using a number of ground based optical and radio telescopes with varying sophistication.
With the advent of the Indian space programme, emphasis was laid on indigenous, self-reliant and state-of-the-art development of technology for immediate practical applications in the fields of space science research activities in the country.
There is a national balloon launching facility at Hyderabad jointly supported by TIFR and ISRO. This facility has been extensively used for carrying out research in high energy (i.e., X- and gamma ray) astronomy, IR astronomy, middle atmospheric trace constituents including CFCs & aerosols, ionisation, electric conductivity and electric fields.
The flux of secondary particles and X-ray and gamma-rays of atmospheric origin produced by the interaction of the cosmic rays is very low. This low background, in the presence of which one has to detect the feeble signal from cosmic sources is a major advantage in conducting hard X-ray observations from India. The second advantage is that many bright sources like Cyg X-1, Crab Nebula, Scorpius X-1 and Galactic Centre sources are observable from Hyderabad due to their favourable declination. With these considerations, an X-ray astronomy group was formed at TIFR in 1967 and development of an instrument with an orientable X-ray telescope for hard X-ray observations was undertaken. The first balloon flight with the new instrument was made on 28 April 1968 in which observations of Scorpius X-1 were successfully carried out. In a succession of balloon flights made with this instrument between 1968 and 1974 a number of binary X-ray sources including Scorpius X-1, Cyg X-1, Her X-1 etc. and the diffuse cosmic X-ray background were studied. Many new and astrophysically important results were obtained from these observations.
One of most important achievements of ISRO in this field was the discovery of three species of bacteria in the upper stratosphere at an altitude of between 20–40 km. The bacteria, highly resistant to ultra-violet radiation, are not found elsewhere on Earth, leading to speculation on whether they are extraterrestrial in origin. These three bacteria can be considered to be extremophiles. Until then, the upper stratosphere was believed to be inhospitable because of the high doses of ultra-violet radiation. The bacteria were named as Bacillus isronensis in recognition of ISRO's contribution in the balloon experiments, which led to its discovery, Bacillus aryabhata after India's celebrated ancient astronomer Aryabhata and Janibacter Hoylei after the distinguished astrophysicist Fred Hoyle.
Future projects
ISRO plans to launch a number of new-generation Earth Observation Satellites in the near future. It will also undertake the development of new launch vehicles and spacecraft. ISRO has stated that it will send unmanned missions to Mars and Near-Earth Objects. ISRO has planned 58 missions during 2012–17; 33 satellites missions in next two years and 25 launch vehicles missions thereafter, costing 20000 crore (US$3 billion).
20000 crore (US$3 billion).
Forthcoming Satellites
| Satellite Name | Details |
|---|---|
| ASTROSAT | ASTROSAT is a first dedicated Indian Astronomy satellite mission, which will enable multi-wavelength observations of the celestial bodies and cosmic sources in X-ray and UV spectral bands simultaneously. The scientific payloads cover the Visible (3500–6000 Å…), UV (1300–3000 Å…), soft and hard X-ray regimes (0.5–8 keV; 3–80 keV). The uniqueness of ASTROSAT lies in its wide spectral coverage extending over visible, UV, soft and hard X-ray regions. |
| GSAT-6 / INSAT-4E | The primary goal of GSAT-6/INSAT-4E, which is a Multimedia broadcast satellite, is to cater to the consumer requirements of providing entertainment and information services to vehicles through Digital Multimedia consoles and to the Multimedia mobile Phones. The satellite carries a 5 spot beam BSS and 5 spot beam MSS. It will be positioned at 83° East longitude with a mission life of 12 years. |
| GSAT-7/INSAT-4F | It is a multi-band satellite carrying payloads in UHF, S-band, C-band and Kuband. The satellite weighs 2330 kg with a payload power of 2000W and mission life of 9 years. |
| GSAT-9 | GSAT-9 will carry 6 C band and 24 Ku band transponders with India coverage beam. The satellite is planned to be launched during 2011–12 with a mission life of 12 years and positioned at 48° East longitude. This I-2K satellite has a liftoff mass of 2330 kg and payload power of 2300 W. |
| GSAT-11 | GSAT-11 is based on I-4K bus which is under advanced stage of development. The spacecraft can generate 10–12 KW of power and can support payload power of 8KW. The payload configuration is on-going. It consists of 16 spot beams covering entire country including Andaman & Nicobar islands. The communication link to the user-end terminals operate in Ku-band while the communication link to the hubs operate in Ka-band. The payload is configured to be operated as a high data throughput satellite, to be realised in orbit in 2013 time frame. |
| GSAT-15 | GSAT-15 is an Indian communication satellite similar to GSAT-10 to augment the capacity of transponders to provided more bandwidth for Direct-to-Home television and VSAT services. The satellite will be the 10th one in the series of GSAT satellites. |
| GSAT-16 | GSAT-16 will be the 11th Indian communication satellite similar to GSAT-15 meant to increase the number of transponders that in turn enhance the satellite based telecommunication, television, VSAT services in India. |
Future launch vehicles
GSLV-Mk III
GSLV-Mk III is envisaged to launch four tonne satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. GSLV-Mk III is a three-stage vehicle with a 110 tonne core liquid propellant stage (L-110) and a strap-on stage with two solid propellant motors, each with 200 tonne propellant (S-200). The upper stage will be cryogenic with a propellant loading of 25 tonne (C-25). GSLV Mk-III will have a lift-off weight of about 626 tonne and will be 43.43 m tall. The payload fairing will have a diameter of 5-metre and a payload volume of 100 cubic metre. GSLV Mk III is planned to be launched in April, 2014. It will weigh 640 tonnes at the time of lift-off, which will make it the heaviest rocket ever to be built in India.
Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD)
As a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable launch vehicle, a series of technology demonstration missions have been conceived. For this purpose a Winged Reusable Launch Vehicle technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) has been configured. The RLV-TD will act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies viz., hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air-breathing propulsion. First in the series of demonstration trials is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX).
Extraterrestrial exploration
India's first mission beyond Earth's orbit was Chandrayaan-1. ISRO plans to follow up Chandrayaan-2 with unmanned missions to Mars,Venus and Near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets.
Lunar exploration
- Chandrayaan-1 was India's first mission to the Moon. The unmanned lunar exploration mission included a lunar orbiter and an impactor called the Moon Impact Probe. India launched the spacecraft using a modified version of the PSLV on 22 October 2008 fromSatish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The vehicle was successfully inserted into lunar orbit on 8 November 2008. It carried high-resolution remote sensing equipment for visible, near infrared, and soft and hard X-ray frequencies. During its 312 days operational period (2 years planned), it surveyed the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and 3-dimensional topography. The polar regions were of special interest, as they proved contain ice. The lunar mission carried five ISRO instruments and six pinstruments from other international space agencies including NASA, ESA, and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, which were carried free of cost. The Chandrayaan-1 became the first lunar mission to discover existence of water on the Moon.
- Chandrayaan-2 (Sanskrit: चंद्रयान-२) will be India's second unmanned mission to the Moon will include an orbiter and lander-rover module. Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-MkII) around 2016 - 2017 timeframe. The science goals of the mission are to further improve the understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon.
Mars exploration
The Indian Space Research Organisation launched its first Mars orbiter, called Mars Orbiter Mission, or Mangalyaan, on 5 November 2013. Mangalyaan carries a 15-kilogram suite of five science instruments to study the Martian upper atmosphere, surface features and mineralogy.
Venus orbiter mission
ISRO is planning a mission to Venus by May 2015 to study its atmosphere. The probe will reach Venus by September 2015 and would carry at least five instruments.
Solar exploration programme
ISRO plans to carry out a mission to the Sun by the year 2015-16. The probe is named as Aditya-1 and will weigh about 400 kg. It is the First Indian space based Solar Coronagraph to study solar Corona in visible and near IR bands. Launch of the Aditya mission is planned during the next high solar activity period ~ 2012 but has been postponed to 2015–2016 due to the extensive work involved in the fabrication and other technical aspects . The main objectives is to study the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) and consequently the crucial physical parameters for space weather such as the coronal magnetic field structures, evolution of the coronal magnetic field etc. This will provide completely new information on the velocity fields and their variability in the inner corona having an important bearing on the unsolved problem of heating of the corona would be obtained.
Space science missions
Space Capsule Recovery Experiment II The main objective of SRE II is to realise a fully recoverable capsule and provide a platform to conduct microgravity experiments on Micro-biology, Agriculture, Powder Metallurgy, etc. SRE-2 is proposed to be launched on board PSLV.
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