Upcoming Missions of ISRO

After the successful soft landing of Chandrayan-3, ISRO has set its sights on the next milestone. ISRO’s upcoming missions aim to further continue and elevate space supremacy around the world. Building on the knowledge gained from lunar missions, the ISRO is now tending to investigate new horizons, nurturing a legacy of scientific discovery.

ISRO has listed on its official website its next four missions, including Aditya L1, which is expected to launch in the first week of September. Now we will briefly discuss four upcoming missions after Chandrayan-3.

First mission-Aditya L1

The Aditya L1 mission will be the first upcoming mission of ISRO to study the sun. The Aditya L1 spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around language point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system. The L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the sun without any eclipse.

Spacecraft details

Aditya L1

Mission details	Solar observation
Duration	5.2 years
Operator	ISRO
Manufacturer	ISRO
Launch mass	1475 kg
Payload mass	244 kg
Launch date	02 Sep 23, 06:20 UTC
Rocket	PSLV- XL(C57)
Site	Satish Dhawan space centre
Reference Orbit	Sun Earth L1
Regime	Halo orbit

Payloads

The spacecraft will carry seven payloads:

Remote Sensing Payloads

Ser	Payloads	Capability
1	Visible Emission Line Coronagraph(VELC)	Corona/Imaging & Spectroscopy
2.	Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT)	Photosphere and Chromosphere Imaging- Narrow & Broadband
3.	Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS)	Soft X-ray spectrometer: Sun-as-a-star observation
4.	High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer(HEL1OS)	Hard X-ray spectrometer: Sun-as-a-star observation

In-situ payloads

Ser	Payloads	Capabilities
1.	Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment(ASPEX)	Solar wind/Particle Analyzer Protons & Heavier Ions with directions
2.	Plasma Analyser Package For Aditya (PAPA)	Solar wind/Particle Analyzer Electrons & Heavier Ions with directions
3.	Advanced Tri-axial High Resolution Digital Magnetometers	In-situ magnetic field (Bx, By and Bz).

It is expected that Aditya L1 payloads will provide information to understand the problems of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare and flare activity of space weather, and the propagation of particles and fields.

Purpose of Aditya L1 Mission

• Study of solar upper atmospheric( chromosphere and corona) dynamics with their heating, physics of partially ionized plasma, and initiation of coronal mass ejection( CME)
• Observing in-situ particles and the plasma environment provides data for the study of particle dynamics from the sun.
• Diagnostics of the coronal and coronal loop plasma: temperature, velocity, and density.
• Coronal mass ejection (CME) development, dynamics, and origins.
• Magnetic field topology and measurement in the solar corona.

XPoSat

XPoSat (X-ray polarimeter satellite) is India’s first dedicated polarimetry upcoming mission of ISRO to study the various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions.

Mission Details

XPoSat is an ISRO-planned space observatory to study the polarization of cosmic X-rays. It is planned to be launched in 2023 or later on a PSLV with a mission life of at least 5 years.

spacecraft	X-ray Polarimeter Satellite
Manufacturer	Raman Research Institute
Launch mass	480 kg
Payload mass	144 kg
Power	1260 watt
Reference orbit	Geocentric oribit
Regime	Low earth orbit
Altitude	650 km
Inclination	6°

Payloads

This spacecraft will carry two payloads in a low-earth orbit that are:

POLIX

It’s primary payload, i.e., POLIX (polarimeter instrument in X-ray): This instrument will measure the polarimetry parameters (degree and angle of polarization) in the medium X-ray energy range of 8–30 KeV photons of astronomical origin.

XSPECT

It stands for X-ray spectroscopy, and timing is a payload that will give spectroscopic information in the energy range of 0.8–1.5 KeV.

Objectives of XPoSat

• To measure the strength and distribution of the magnetic field in the sources.
• Geometric anisotrophies in the sources and their alignment with respect to the line of site.
• The nature of the accelerator for energizing the elections by taking part in radiation and scattering.

Third mission: NISAR

NISAR stands for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar; it is a joint project between NASA and ISRO probably the Upcoming missions of ISRO. The satellite will be the first radar imaging satellite that will use dual frequencies, which will be used for remote sensing to observe and understand the natural processes of the earth. NISAR is likely to be the world’s most expensive Earth imaging satellite.

Mission Details

Satelite Name	NISAR
Operator	NASA and ISRO
Mission Duration	3 years planned
Launch Date	Jan 2024
Rocket	GSLV MK II
Site	Satish Dhawan space centre
Launch mass	2800 kg
Power	6500 watt
Instruments	A. L band(24 cm wavelength) B. S band(12 cm wavelength)
Reference	Geocentric Orbit
Orbit	Sun Synchronous orbit
Altitude	747 km
Inclination	98.5°

In this project, ISRO’s share will be ₹ 788 crore (99 million USD), and NASA’s share is about 808 million USD.

Purpose of the NISAR mission

NISAR will map the entire globe in 12 days and provide spatially and temporarily consistent data for understanding changes in Earth’s ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation, biomass, sea level rise, ground water, and natural hazards, including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and landslides.

Fourth mission:SPADEX

SPADEX, or space docking experiment, is a twin spacecraft mission being developed by ISRO as one of the upcoming mission. The spacecraft will consist of two IMS-class (200 kg) satellites, one of which would be the chaser and the other the target, and both would be launched as co-passengers or auxiliary payloads. Both spacecraft will be injected into slightly different orbits. SPADEX is currently scheduled for launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Center abroad on a PSLV.

Objectives

• Autonomous rendezvous and docking.
• Controlling one spacecraft with the altitude control system of another spacecraft while in docked configuration.
• Formation flying
• Remote robotic arm operations