Why in News:

• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is gearing up for a number of missions in 2022.

What are the missions?

• These include the launch of the Earth Observation Satellites, EOS-4 and EOS-6 on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV),
  • Earth observation satellites are satellites that have remote sensing capabilities.
  • Earth observation is the collection of data on Earth’s physical, chemical, and biochemical mechanisms. 
  • Many earth observation satellites have been deployed on sun-synchronous orbit. Other ISRO-launched earth observation satellites include RESOURCESAT-2, 2A, CARTOSAT-1, 2, 2A, 2B, RISAT-1 and 2, OCEANSAT-2, Megha-Tropiques, SARAL and SCATSAT-1, INSAT-3DR, 3D, and others.
  • PSLV is the first launch vehicle to have liquid stages. PSLV was utilised in the launch of Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013.
• EOS-02 is planned to be launched on the maiden flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).
  • SSLV will give on-demand access to space, with rocket assembly lasting only 15 days and requiring minimal crew. 
  • It will only be used for tiny satellites like nanosats and cubesats. The SSLV’s cargo capacity in Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) will be 500-700 kg, which is less than one-third the weight of the PLSV. 
  • It features a three-stage solid propulsion system and, like the PSLV and GSLV, can carry numerous satellites, albeit of a smaller size. Small satellites are now piggybacked on larger satellites launched using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Launch Vehicles (GLV) (GSLV). 
  • The SSLV, unlike the PSLV and GSLV, can be constructed both vertically and horizontally.
• ISRO has already conducted test flights for the Crew Escape System of Gaganyaan and is planning the launch of the first unmanned mission of Gaganyaan. ISRO conducted a Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment and a Pad Abort Test for the program.
  • It is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.
  • The ₹10,000-crore ambitious project is expected to be launched in 2022, the year of the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence, by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
  • It is designed to have 3-7 crew members spend 3-7 days in space in a 400-km orbit (Low Earth Orbit or LEO).
  • GSLV Mk III, the three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle, will be used to launch Gaganyaan as it has the necessary payload capability.
  • With this, India could potentially become the fourth country to send a man to space, after the erstwhile USSR, the US and China

Other Missions

• In addition, ISRO also plans Chandrayaan-03, Aditya Ll, XpoSat, IRNSS and technology demonstration missions with indigenously developed advanced technologies..

1. Chandrayaan-3 is the successor mission of Chandrayaan-2, and it will try soft landing again on the lunar surface. In terms of spacecraft architecture, landing site on the moon, and experiments to be done on the lunar surface, it will be nearly identical to the 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission. Despite the fact that landers dispatched by Russia, the United States, and China have investigated the moon’s surface, no other agency has landed in the moon’s southern hemisphere. ISRO aspires to be the first to do this. 
2. Aditya-L1, is the first scientific mission to research the Sun. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) XL will be used to launch it. Aditya L1 will investigate the Sun’s corona (visible and near-infrared rays), photosphere (soft and hard X-rays), chromosphere (ultra violet), solar radiation, solar winds and flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), as well as conduct round-the-clock imaging of the Sun.
3. Xposat– ISRO’s dedicated mission to study polarisation is the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (or Xposat).  The project will last five years and will investigate cosmic radiation. It will be carrying a payload from Raman Research Institute called the ‘polarimeter instrument in X-rays’ (POLIX). POLIX will investigate the degree and angle of polarisation of X-ray sources with energies ranging from 5 to 30 keV.
4. IRNSS ( Navigation Indian Constellation (NaVIC)) was launched in order to provide dependable location, navigation, and time services over India and its surroundings.

IRNSS is a regional navigation system, not a worldwide navigation system. It functions similarly to the well-known and widely used Global Positioning System (GPS) in the United States, but only within a 1,500-kilometer radius of the subcontinent. 

1. ISRO has delivered the S-band SAR payload to NASA for the NISAR [NASA-ISRO SAR] mission. The NISAR mission, scheduled for launch in 2023, is optimised for studying hazards and global environmental change and can help manage natural resources better and provide information to scientists to better understand the effects and pace of climate change.

Missions in the pipeline

• Three new space science missions are in the pipeline. These include a Venus mission, DISHA –a twin aeronomy satellite mission and TRISHNA, an ISRO-CNES  mission in 2024.

1. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has planned the ‘Shukrayaan’ Venus orbiter mission. It is a mission to investigate Venus’s surface processes and shallow subsurface stratigraphy, as well as the interaction of solar wind with the Venusian ionosphere and the structure, composition, and dynamics of the atmosphere.
2. DISHA is a satellite system that will investigate the earth’s aeronomy, which is the earth’s uppermost layer of atmosphere.
3. ISRO and the French space agency CNES have collaborated on the development of advanced satellites such as TRISHNA to monitor the water cycle( to assist in determining the best methods to use it) and map the surface temperature of land.

References:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/isro-gearing-up-for-multiple-space-missions-in-2022/article38103503.ece
2. https://officerspulse.com/aditya-l1/
3. https://officerspulse.com/mission-gaganyaan/
4. https://officerspulse.com/venus-2/
5. https://www.isro.gov.in/international-cooperation
6. https://officerspulse.com/indian-regional-navigation-satellite-system-irnss-navic-navigation-with-indian-constellation/ 
7. https://www.isro.gov.in/missions 
8. https://newsonair.com/2021/07/29/isros-chandrayaan-3-to-take-flight-into-space-next-year/