Chandrayaan 2 launch.

Saturday, October 10 marks the conclusion of this years International Space Weekan annual celebration of science and technology as well as their contribution towards the betterment of the human condition. Over the past few decades, exponential growth in science and technology has allowed humanity to take gigantic leaps in understanding our planet and exploring far-off cosmic worlds that lie beyond our physical reach. In return, space science has helped humanity advance in all fields of science and ameliorate human conditions.

India too, over recent years, has become a notable contributor to the field of space science and exploration. In addition to the incredible research from Indian astronomers, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been taking the nation to greater heights and unexplored territoriesquite literally. With a hunger to explore more and understand better, the Indian space agency has no intentions of slowing down any time soon. And while the COVID-19 pandemic may have delayed some plans to an extent, ISRO has some major projects lined-up just for the next two years.

Here are ISROs five upcoming space missions that it aims to launch by the year 2022:

The first of ISROs upcoming missions will be the Radar Imaging Satellite 1A, or RISAT-1A. A land-based mission, this remote sensing satellites primary application will be in terrain mapping and analysis of land, ocean, and water surface for soil moisture.

RISAT-1A will be the sixth in the series of RISAT satellitesIndian radar imaging reconnaissance satellites built by ISRO that provide all-weather surveillance using synthetic aperture radars (SAR).

These radars can be used for Earth observation irrespective of the light and weather conditions of the area being imaged. RISAT-1A will provide continuity of service for RISAT-1, which was launched on April 26, 2012.

The satellite will carry payloads (instruments) for three categories, each consisting of different parametersLand (Albedo and reflectance, soil moisture, vegetation, and multi-purpose imagery), Ocean (Ocean topography/currents), and Snow & Ice (Ice sheet topography, Snow cover, edge and depth; Sea ice cover, edge, and thickness).

While its launch date is yet to be confirmed, reports indicate that it may take-off by late 2020 or early 2021, using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

Last year, the Chandrayaan-2 mission not only took India to the Moon, but it also made ISRO a household name across the country. And while the failure to perform a soft landing on the lunar surface prevented the mission from being a 100% success, those incomplete objectives will soon be achieved through ISROs next lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3.

Chandrayaan-2 was a reasonably successful mission, said Dr Abhay Deshpande, a Senior Scientist working for the Government of India and the Honorary Secretary of Khagol Mandal (a non-profit collective of astronomy enthusiasts). The only setback we have faced is that through Chandrayaan-3, we now have to repeat some of the work that was supposed to be done by Chandrayaan-2. This has effectively delayed ISROs timeline and postponed some of its future missions. But other than this, there is nothing that needs to be done differently for Chandrayaan-3. I believe we will take all the necessary precautions, and achieve success in this mission, he added.

C3 is expected to retain the heritage of its predecessor while sporting a configuration that allows robust design and capacity enhancement for mission flexibility. Further, considering the C2 Orbiter continues to function optimally, the C3 mission will only consist of a lander and a rover. This also makes the mission more economical, with ISRO chairman K. Sivan estimating it to be worth 615 crore rupees. In comparison, C2 cost India 970 crore rupees.

The type of payloads C3 will carry remains unknown as of now, but if it retains all the main objectives of C2, it is likely to consist of payloads identical to those within Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover that were destroyed during the hard landing.

The mission is likely to be launched somewhere in early 2021, as per an announcement made by Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State for the Department of Space, in early September 2020.

Having made strides in the field of unmanned space exploration, ISRO is now on the verge of launching the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme through its Gaganyaan mission. The Gaganyaan, which means Sky Craft in Sanskrit, is a crewed orbital spacecraft jointly manufactured by ISRO, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Representative image

In the maiden crewed mission, which has been scheduled for December 2021, the 3.7-tonne capsule will orbit the Earth at a 400 km altitude for up to seven days, with a crew of one to three persons on board. Prior to his crewed mission, however, ISRO has also planned two uncrewed orbital test flights of the Gaganyaan capsulethe first in December 2020 and the second, July 2021.

While the crewed launch is still more than a year away, the biggest challenge of the entire mission may arrive much before the launchduring the human training phase, according to Dr. Deshpande.

Shedding light on this potential block, he told The Weather Channel: At present, the Indian astronauts are preparing for the mission in Russia, training in a simulated zero gravity environment to get accustomed to the harsh conditions of space. But at some point of time, we will have to train them on the Indian soil, for which we will have to create our own simulation and training centres. This could be one of the toughest parts of the mission, considering our lack of experience and data in this field.

While these challenges do lie in the way, they are manageable, and the overall Gaganyaan mission is expected to proceed smoothly. In fact, its successful completion will mark Indias entry to the human spaceflight programs, while simultaneously boosting the countrys space ambitions and opening doors of imagination for many Indians. For more information on the mission, click here.

So far, the year 2020 has been the year of Solar Physicsin January, US-based National Science Foundation's Inouye Solar Telescope released the most detailed images of the Sun ever; a month later, NASA and ESA launched their Solar Orbiter; and just last month, the Parker Solar Probe made its closest approach to the Sun, managing to get within 13.5 million kilometres of the solar surface.

India, too, hopes to add to these achievements and contribute its own share to the field by January 2022 through Aditya-L1, the first Indian Solar Coronagraph spacecraft mission to study the solar coronathe outermost part of the Suns atmosphere. While ISRO initially envisaged it as a small low-Earth orbiting satellite with a coronagraph, the scope of the mission has since expanded to make it a comprehensive solar and space environment observatory.

Five Lagrangian points. Position of Telescope at L2. Aditya will be at L1.

Aditya will be placed near the Lagrangian Point L1, one of the five points between the Earth and the Sun where the gravity seems to balance. This very fact allows any spacecraft placed on such Lagrangian points to go around the Sun-Earth system without requiring much fuel.

Aditya will have seven payloads: Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC), Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT), Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX), Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA), Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS), High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS), and Magnetometer.

Together, these payloads will help Aditya-L1 observe the Sun's photosphere, chromosphere, and corona; the magnetic fields of the solar wind and solar magnetic storms; and the overall space environment around Earth, among other phenomena. They will also help us gain a comprehensive understanding of the dynamical processes of the Sun, while addressing some of the outstanding problems in solar physics and heliophysics. For more information on the mission, click here.

The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) is a joint project between NASA and ISRO to co-develop and launch the first ever dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar on an Earth observation satellite. With an estimated total cost of US$1.5 billion, it is likely to be the world's most expensive Earth-imaging satellite.

Artist's Concept of NISAR

NISARs main objective will be to observe and measure some of the Earth's most complex natural processes, including the evolution of Earths crust, ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, changing climate, and natural calamities like earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, etc. To do this, it will use advanced radar imaging to map the elevation of Earth's land and ice masses at resolutions of 5 to 10 metres.

All data collected by this satellite will be made available for all 1-2 days after observation, and even within hours in case of emergencies and disasters.

ISROs role in the mission will be to provide the satellite bus, an S band synthetic aperture radar, the launch vehicle, and associated launch services, whereas NASA will supply the L band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a high-rate telecommunication subsystem for scientific data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and a payload data subsystem.

It will be launched from India aboard a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle in September 2022, with a planned mission life of three years.

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Excerpt from:

Space Week: From Human Spaceflight to Studying Sun, ISRO's Upcoming Missions Aim to Transform Indian Space Exploration - The Weather Channel