After Chandrayaan-3, what are ISRO’s plans?

Why in the News?

India became the 4^th country to have soft-landed a robotic instrument on the moon and the 1^st to land in the moon’s south polar region, by the touch down of Chandrayaan-3 on Aug 23, 2023.

What are ISRO’s focus areas?

Focus areas of ISRO:

1. Gaganyaan
   • A human spaceflight mission in which astronauts are trained.
   • Modified Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3) rocket are being tested for certification that they are safe to carry humans.
2. Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD)
   • A launch vehicle to be used for multiple missions is undergoing tests.
   • They are unlike the existing rockets each of which can be used only for one mission.
   • This launch vehicle resembles NASA Space Shuttle, that can use heavy-duty engines and lift up to 20,000 kg to low-earth orbit
   • It is capable of launching heavier and more sophisticated space missions in future.

3. SCE-200
   • A powerful engine which uses highly refined kerosene as the fuel and liquid oxygen as the oxidiser.
   • It is intended to power the next generation of ISRO rockets
   • It is currently undergoing tests.
4. Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV)
   • A rocket smaller than the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)
   • It is intended to carry lighter satellites into low-earth orbit with a shorter turnaround time between launches
   • This is currently undergoing developmental flights.

Upcoming missions of ISRO:

1.  Aditya L1 spacecraft
   • A scientific mission to study the sun in greater detail that is expected to be launched in September this year.
   • It is planned to be launched onboard a PSLV rocket.
2. Two flights of the modified LVM-3 will be tested for the Gaganyaan mission’s crew escape system. 
3. Launch of XPoSat satellite to study X-rays streaming through outer space.
4. Launch of third developmental flight of the SSLV.
5. Launch of NISAR satellite, built jointly by ISRO and NASA at a cost of $1.5 billion, is planned in January 2024.
   • The satellite will study natural processes on the earth’s surface for 3 years in radar frequency.
   • Contains state-of-the-art setup
6. Launch of Gaganyaan G1 and G2 flights:
   • A human-rated LVM-3 rocket will be flown without a crew
7. Launch of the GSAT-20 communications satellite.
8. Launch of payloads for other space agencies, companies or institutes.
9. Working on the development of safer and more energy-efficient rocket fuel such as methalox propellant (methane plus liquid oxygen).
10. Quest for development of an electric propulsion system for satellites, that will be lighter than chemical propellants and being beneficial to a satellite’s lifespan.
11. ISRO is expected to launch the European Space Agency’s PROBA-3 satellites in 2024.
12. ‘Shukrayaan’ mission to Venus has been planned.
13. ISRO in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is developing systems for Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission
    • It is a natural extension of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
    • It shall consist of a lander and a rover to extend studies of the moon’s south polar region.
    • It shall have sophisticated systems such as drill to extract subsurface samples for further analysis.
    • Developed in such a way to demonstrate ‘night survival’ i.e., to endure -180 degrees Celsius during the night day (14 earth days) in the moon.
    •  The launch vehicle and the rover will be provided by JAXA and the lander by ISRO.