Sweden getting on board India's Venus mission with payload to explore planet

Bengaluru, Nov 25 (PTI) Sweden is getting on board
India's Venus orbiter mission 'Shukrayaan' with a scientific
instrument to explore the planet.
Ambassador of Sweden to India, Klas Molin said Swedish
Institute of Space Physics (IRF) is engaged in the venture,
its second collaborative project with the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO).
"IRF's satellite instrument Venusian Neutrals Analyzer
(VNA) will study how the charged particles from the Sun
interact with the atmosphere and exosphere of the planet", he
told PTI.
"The new Venus mission means that the collaboration
between IRF and ISRO continues".
The VNA would be the ninth generation of IRFs series of
miniatured ion and ENA (Energetic Neutral Atoms) instruments,
according to Swedish officials.
The first generation was named SARA (Sub-keV Atom
Reflecting Analyzer) and was launched on board the Indian
spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 that explored the Moon in 2008-2009.
SARA consisted of two sensors.
One was a detector for energetic neutral atoms and the
other was an instrument to measure the flow of ions in the
solar wind.
The instrument studied how the plasma around the Moon
interacts with the moon where the surface is not protected by
an atmosphere or a magnetic field, they said.
"For the first time ever, SARA could investigate
energetic atoms that are knocked from the lunar surface when
they are hit by the solar wind", Swedish officials said.
The SARA experiment was the first collaborative project
between IRF and the ISRO.
On collaboration in general with India in the field of
space, Molin said Sweden has quite a lot to provide, both from
its institutions and from space tech companies.
He said India has a clear ambition to explore the
universe, other planets and to send humans to space.
"This segment includes to a large extent R&D effort, both
regarding space technologies and services."
"The unique Space Tech Testbed capability at Esrange can
also carry out even more advanced tests of equipment and
technologies that should be used in exploration campaigns",
Molin said.
On future prospects in the space field between the two
countries, the Ambassador noted that India has recently
created National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre
(IN-SPACe) to provide a level playing field for private
companies to use Indian space infrastructure.
This is part of reforms aimed at giving a boost to
private sector participation in the entire range of space
activities, he said.
"The future is exciting as India is opening the space
market for commercial player participation and easing import-
export restrictions, including 100 per cent FDI allowed in
satellite development and deployment.
It is important to underline that ISRO will remain as the
main Indian customer in the coming years, but the market
growth could be exponential", Molin said.
According to ISRO officials, the Indian space agency has
short-listed 20 space-based experiment proposals, including
from France, for its proposed Venus mission to study the
planet for more than four years.
They include "collaborative contributions" from Russia,
France, Sweden and Germany.
ISRO was eyeing June, 2023 for the country's first
mission to Venus.
"But we are currently reviewing this mission timeline due
to delays arising from the pandemic situation", an ISRO
official said.
"Future launch opportunity is either in 2024 or 2026".
It was noted that optimal launch window (when Venus is
closest to the Earth) comes about every 19 months.
Of the Indian and international payload proposals it
received in response to an announcement of opportunity for
novel space-based experiments to study Venus, ISRO has short-
listed 20 and they are currently under review.
The one already selected, according to French space
agency CNES, is France's VIRAL instrument (Venus Infrared
Atmospheric Gas Linker) co-developed with the Russian space
agency Roscosmos, and the LATMOS atmospheres, environments and
space observations laboratory attached to the French national
scientific research centre CNRS.
Scientific objectives of ISRO's Venus mission are
investigation of the surface processes and shallow subsurface
stratigraphy; and solar wind interaction with Venusian
Ionosphere, and studying the structure, composition and
dynamics of the atmosphere, according ISRO.
The payload capability of the proposed 2500-kg satellite,
planned to be launched on GSLV Mk II rocket, is likely to be
175 kg with 500W of power.
The proposed orbit is expected to be around 500 x 60,000
km around Venus.
This orbit is likely to be reduced gradually, over
several months to a lower apoapsis (farthest point). PTI RS
ROH ROH

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)