Why in the news
During PM Modi’s visit to Sweden, part of a five-nation European tour, ISRO and the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA) signed an MoU bringing Sweden into India’s first dedicated Venus mission.
Key facts
- Mission: Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM), named Shukrayaan or “Venus Craft”.
- Cleared: Union Cabinet, September 2024; outlay ₹1,236 crore.
- Payloads: 19 scientific instruments.
- Rocket: heavy-lift LVM-3; target launch date given as 29 March 2028.
- Orbit method: aerobraking, where atmospheric friction rather than fuel slows the craft into its final orbit.
Science goals
| Goal | What is studied |
|---|
| Surface mapping | Volcanic features and terrain |
| Hotspot detection | Signs of active volcanism |
| Subsurface sounding | Internal structure |
| Cloud dynamics | Atmospheric monitoring |
| Water history | Whether Venus once held liquid water |
International partners
| Country | Contribution |
|---|
| Sweden (new) | Venusian Neutrals Analyser (VNA), folded into VISWAS (Venus Ionospheric and Solar Wind particle AnalySer) |
| Russia | VIRAL instrument |
| Germany | RAVI experiment |
- The VNA will watch Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENAs) and plasma boundaries, study how the solar wind interacts with Venus’s ionosphere and help explain atmospheric escape and climate evolution.
Background
- ISRO: national space agency, formed 1969 as successor to INCOSPAR (1962); based in Bengaluru under the Department of Space.
- LVM-3: formerly GSLV Mk-III; lifts about 8 tonnes to LEO or 4 tonnes to GTO; used for Chandrayaan-2 and 3 and OneWeb launches.
- Venus as Earth’s twin: similar size, mass and density, but with a CO2-rich runaway greenhouse atmosphere, surface near 462°C, pressure 92 times Earth’s, sulfuric acid clouds and slow retrograde spin.
- ENAs: fast neutral atoms formed when solar-wind ions grab electrons from neutral gas; being neutral they slip past magnetic fields and can be sensed remotely.
- SNSA: Sweden’s space agency, set up in 1972 and based in Stockholm.
Exam angle
- Signatories: ISRO and SNSA (not ESA).
- Instruments to recall: VNA, VISWAS, VIRAL, RAVI.
- Budget and approval: ₹1,236 crore, September 2024.