India’s Space Saga To Continue In 2024

With the successful launch of the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) on the first day of the year, ISRO showed its intentions to go with its missions without rubbing on the surface in 2024.

The XPoSat aims to conduct in-depth research on black holes and offers insights into space-based polarisation measurements of X-ray emission from various celestial objects.

“We are planning at least 12 missions for 2024. It may also go up depending on our ability to produce the hardware and complete testing,” ISRO chief S Somanath said at a media briefing after the launch of the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite on Monday.

“2024 is going to be a year to prepare for Gaganyaan. We are targeting the launch in 2025, but this year we will be conducting at least two more rounds of tests before gearing up for the final mission,” he added.

Meanwhile, ISRO looking forward to almost a dozen new space missions this year which will be a remarkable achievement that will beat the organisation’s own 2023 record of seven space missions.

Apart from the XPoSat Mission, the space agency with the collaboration of NASA, NISAR (NASA-ISRO SAR) is slated to take off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota onboard ISRO’s GSLV Mark-II launch vehicle this month.

NISAR is a low-earth orbit observatory that will map the entire planet in 12 days and provide spatially and temporally consistent data after each mission. According to ISRO, the data obtained will aid in understanding changes in our planet’s ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation biomass, sea level rise, groundwater and natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides.

Again in January month, INSAT-3DS, a multipurpose geostationary satellite in the Indian National Satellite System series, is an anticipated Indian meteorological satellite which is tentatively scheduled to launch on 10 January 2024.

Almost a decade after the huge success of Mars Orbiter Mission-1 (MOM-1), the Mars mission is coming back in 2024 with Mangalyaan-2 or MOM-2 which is to launch later this year.

The mission will carry payloads like a Mars Orbit Dust Experiment (MODEX), a Radio Occultation (RO) experiment, an Energetic Ion Spectrometer (EIS) and a Langmuir Probe and Electric Field Experiment (LPEX) for studying the barren landscape of Mars, interplanetary dust, the environment and the Martian atmosphere. The spacecraft will also have a magnetometer to analyse Mars’ magnetic field and radar to map the Martian surface.

Mars is not the only nearby planet ISRO wants to reach. Shukrayaan-1, the Venus Orbiter Mission, will be the Indian space agency’s first mission to study what lies under the scorching planet’s surface.

Shukrayaan mission may assist in solving the riddles of the planet’s sulfuric acid clouds, which have come under increasing examination in recent years for probable life processes. The mission will also study the planet’s geological and volcanic activity, as well as its other distinguishing characteristics.

Proba-3 is a project of the European Space Agency which will fly in front, spreading out to block as much of the Sun’s radiation as possible. However, it will be launched from ISRO’s PSLV launcher, which has also carried out other major Indian space projects such as Chandrayaan-1 and the recent Aditya-L1 solar mission.

While all this is happening in the government sector, the private sector is also ready to witness major milestones in 2024. Recently, Tata Advanced Systems announced that it has entered into a collaboration with Satellogic Inc for establishing and developing local space technology capabilities in India. 

The production of five PSLV rockets by the HAL-L&T consortium is also in its advanced stage. Skyroot is gearing up to expand its operations and is likely to have an orbital launch this month. Similarly, Agnikul also recently announced that they have been able to do the ground tests and will be launching their rocket very soon.

The Bengaluru-based space tech start-up Pixxel also recently announced their plans to launch 24 satellites in the next two years, focused on launching the first six of the 24-satellite constellation Fireflies in 2024 and 18 in 2025.

Director General of the Indian Space Association, Lt Gen AK Bhatt says, “As the private space sector in India propels forward with unprecedented collaborations, groundbreaking launches and visionary policies, the Indian private space industry is set for a revolution in 2024.” 

With strategic alliances, a thriving startup ecosystem, and the announcement of critical policies like the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the Space Activity Bill, India’s trajectory in space exploration is poised for a quantum leap, Bhatt added.