ISRO likely to push Venus mission ‘Shukrayaan I’ to 2031

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is yet to receive approval from the Union government for the Venus mission and that the mission could as a result be postponed to 2031.

Venus Mission

• ISRO’s Venus mission, Shukrayaan I, was expected to be launched in December 2024.
• The idea was born in 2012. Five years later, ISRO commenced preliminary studies after the Department of Space received a 23% increase in the 2017-18 Budget.
• The organisation sought payload proposals from research institutes in April 2017.

Launch Windows

• Optimal launch windows from earth to Venus occur once around every 19 months.
• This is why ISRO has “back-up” launch dates in 2026 and 2028, should it miss the 2024 opportunity.
• But even more optimal windows, which further reduce the amount of fuel required at lift-off, come around every eight years.

Launch Issues

• ISRO had originally hoped to launch Shukrayaan I in mid-2023 but cited the pandemic when it pushed the date to December 2024.
• Other ISRO missions, including Aditya L1 and Chandrayaan III, have also been affected by manufacturing delays and commercial launch commitments.

Shukrayaan I

• Shukrayaan I will be an orbiter mission.
• Its scientific payloads currently include a high-resolution synthetic aperture radar and a ground-penetrating radar.
• The mission is expected to study Venus’s geological and volcanic activity, emissions on the ground, wind speed, cloud cover, and other planetary characteristics from an elliptical orbit.

Prelims Take Away

• ISRO
• Chandrayaan-I, II, III
• Aditya L1
• Shukrayaan
• Planet Venus
• Major Mission of Isro
• Gaganyaan