On November 5, 2013, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) made history by making India the first country to successfully reach Mars in one go. Named Mangalyaan, the mission was launched to study the red planet and test key technologies while exploring the inner solar system. It was originally intended to last for six months but has been up there for even years in its orbit. Through this mission, India’s space agency was able to devise a Martian Atlas based on the images provided by the orbiter. To date, it has been finding dust storms on the planet rising about hundreds of kilometers. It’s been considered the cheapest mission, as it was built costing about rs.4.5 billion. Globally, ISRO is known as one of the four organizations to have reached the red planet, aside from NASA, Soviet Space Program, and the European Space Program.
Since its debut in 1969, ISRO has embarked on many historical milestones, proving time and again its mission of standing for the vision of harnessing space technology for national development. It hit the breaks for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it’s all set to explore space and learn about celestial bodies. With its Chandrayaan and Mars missions, ISRO gained recognition from the world's astronomical community.
ISRO’s missions can be generally taken under categories. First, the National Missions, intended to achieve India’s strategic needs and ‘Commercial Missions,’ with India providing launch service to private companies or international countries paying to have their satellites launched from the country. National Missions can be regarded as not restricted to launching satellites for routine purposes like navigation, telecommunication, earth observation, strategic use, etc. However, these are missions that are done for space exploration and interplanetary studies. Also, such science missions are not just national by scope but are done to benefit the larger global scientific community as well.
India's Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh, said in the Lower House of Parliament that the country would launch five science missions by 2025.
Aditya L-1: To the Sun
Aditya L-1, a mission to examine the Sun's outer corona, will be launched. The Indian government's Space Commission has given its approval to the high-profile interplanetary expedition by ISRO scientists. It intends to examine the Sun's outer corona layers, which reach a distance of several thousand kilometers. Scientists are especially interested in the causes of the corona's extremely high temperatures (1000000 kelvin), which are even greater than the Sun's disc or surface temperature, which is roughly 6000K. Scientists are eager to examine this area since they have not yet been able to explain why temperatures are high. This mission will be the first-ever mission to make it to the Sun from India.
Gaganyaan: First Manned Mission
The Gaganyan Mission would be teamwork between Russia and India, and Russia will train the Indian astronauts, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The first manned mission, the Gaganyan Mission, is slated to launch in 2022. Under ISRO, the first unmanned mission will be launched. The Gaganyan mission's ambitions to launch a humanoid robot named ‘Vyommitra,’ according to former ISRO Chairman, K Sivan, will enable it to make substantial scientific advancements. The Gaganyan spacecraft will launch in December 2021 with a four-person human crew and in December 2020 with a humanoid crew.
Chandrayaan-3: To the Moon
One of the most complicated missions to be launched in 2021 is Chandrayaan-3, and according to the former ISRO chief, smooth work is ongoing and would likely cost between 250 and 615 crores. The Chandrayaan -2 mission's extension will launch a moon craft with simply a rover and lander, as opposed to the previous mission's rover, lander, and orbiter. The moon craft launch will be seen from Satish Dhawan Space Center. India and Japan are collaborating to deploy a powerful rover to the south pole of the moon.
After the USSR, NASA, and CNSA, ISRO will thus become the fourth space agency in the world to perform a lunar landing. The GSLV Mark III rocket, which was also utilized for Chandrayaan -2, will be deployed as the launch vehicle. With the help of this trip, the astronauts and scientists would have a closer look at the moon's surface, particularly the south pole of the moon, which is nearly always in shadow and has large craters that may have water or H2O traces in them as well as the potential for fossil evidence.
Mangalyaan-2: To Study Mars Under Five Areas
The eagerly anticipated Mars Orbital Mission 2 (MOM-2), or Mangalyaan-2, as it is more commonly known, is scheduled to launch by Indian space scientists and orbit the red planet in the near future. It will carry out research in five areas, including surface features of Mars, morphology, mineralogy, and atmosphere of Mars. ISRO takes pleasure in becoming the first space agency in Asia to successfully land over Mars and acquire photographs that would help scientists better understand the planet's geomorphological features.
Data from the Mars Orbital Mission has shown indications of a prehistoric process of evolution of life that was extremely comparable to the evolution of life on Earth. Mangalyaan has been in orbit for about six years, and by the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024, we might see another historic moment when India becomes the first nation to orbit Mars on its first attempt—NASA was looking for obstacles, and India (ISRO) succeeded. These interplanetary missions are therefore stepping stones in space exploration and will allow for the collection of far more data.
Shukrayaan: To Venus
Scientists and space organizations are very interested in Venus since it is the second-closest planet to the Sun and has a very hot and toxic atmosphere. The ‘Shukrayaan’ mission, which will be launched in 2023–2024, has already begun the project on Venus. Even yet, ISRO's proposal to investigate this brilliantly illuminating body from space's surface and the atmosphere is still in the proposal stage. Venus is the first planet that has ever been visited by a spaceship, and there have been both successful and unsuccessful missions. After a few failed attempts, Russia, Japan, and America have so far been successful. It is now time for India to launch some operational spacecraft into orbit and gather crucial data and pieces of evidence. As of right now, 2023 has been proposed as the launch date, and the launch vehicle will be the GSLV Mark III.