The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s) annual report for 2018, out last month, lists a clutch of missions that India’s premier (albeit only) space organisation plans to undertake in the coming years.
Notably, the launch manifest that has been a staple of previous reports has been replaced with a timeline that isn’t entirely clear about which missions will be undertaken when.
But apart from the human spaceflight programme, the following five missions to be undertaken in the next half-decade are perhaps the most unique.
1. Collaboration with NASA on a radar-imaging satellite
The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite will be the first satellite with a dual-frequency radar imaging system. Valued at $1.5 billion, it is also likely to be the most expensive Earth-observation satellite ever built.
An artist’s impression of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar. Photo: NASA
Following its planned launch onboard a GSLV Mk II rocket in 2021, it is to be placed in a Sun-synchronous orbit so its solar panels provide constant power.
The dual-frequency radar imaging system will reveal ongoing changes in Earth’s crust, the polar ice, climatic processes, biomass, etc., at a high resolution of 3-50 m, at a rapid bi-weekly pace and on a global scale. The satellite will also be used for disaster management, whereby its data will be available to use only a few hours after observations.
ISRO and NASA will place all science data from the mission in the public domain.
2. Autonomous docking of spacecraft
In light of ISRO’s questionable announcement to build its own space station, this long-running, and related, internal project has received a funding boost of Rs 10 crore. Called the ‘Space Docking experiment’ (SPADEX), the mission will demonstrate autonomous rendezvous and docking of two spacecraft in orbit.
Once docked, one craft’s attitude control system will be used to control how the combined system moves. This demonstration is key to building a space station that consists of several modules working together. The technology is also required for future human interplanetary missions, where crew might have to be transferred from one craft to another. It could also be used to refuel spacecraft in orbit.
Each of the two spacecrafts in SPADEX will launch on a PSLV rocket within the next five years. On a related note, ISRO chairman K. Sivan recently called for pitches for experimental payloads to be flown on the PSLV’s fourth stage. These include proposal requests for docking and robotic-arm experiments.
3. First mission to study the Sun
India’s first space telescope, Astrosat, was designed to study high-energy cosmic objects. ISRO’s second dedicated space science mission will observe the Sun. Launching in 2020 onboard a PSLV-XL rocket, the Aditya-L1 mission will study the Sun’s surface and atmosphere, a.k.a. the photosphere and corona, respectively. It will be placed at the first Lagrangian point (L1) between the Sun and Earth, where the dynamic gravitational attraction between these two bodies roughly cancels out.
So with minimal correction burns, Aditya-L1 can observe the Sun uninterrupted from this point. While at it, it will also be able to measure the Sun’s magnetic field and solar wind radiation at the same point.