Explore the 4 space missions that India aims to undertake in 2022
According several reports the year 2022 will witness a lot of Indian initiatives in the outer space. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will be launching several space missions in 2022. Here are the most anticipated missions that the premier space agency of the country aims to undertake this year.
Gaganyaan
One of the most ambitious space missions that ISRO has ever undertaken, Gaganyaan is all set for 2022 after a long delay. The mission is divided into two parts. The first is an uncrewed mission in which the indigenously developed spacecraft will be test launched. The second is the crewed mission in which the first batch of trained Indian astronauts (three Indian Air Force officers) who are currently undergoing training will set foot on space.
In the first half of 2022, ISRO will launch the test vehicle flight to validate the performance of the spacecraft’s Crew Escape System (escape or abort system on a spacecraft to ensure the crew’s safety). Shortly after this, the first uncrewed mission will take place. By the end of 2022, the space agency aims to undertake the crewed mission.
The goal of this mission is to assess the ability to send humans into the Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) onboard, a made-in-India spacecraft and bring them back safely.
Aditya L1
Aditya L1 is all set to become India’s maiden mission to study the sun. The name of the mission Aditya is actually the Sanskrit word for ‘sun.’ After the successful launch of the Mars orbiter in 2013, this will be India’s second high-profile and cutting-edge space mission.
The goal of this mission is to enter the sun’s halo orbit, also called the Lagrange Point 1 (L1) which is approximately 15 million kilometres distant from the earth.
Chandrayaan-3
Chandrayaan-3, a moon mission, is all set to launch in the second half of 2022. This is the follow-up of the first two Chandrayaan missions. The first one was successfully conducted in 2008 and made many lunar discoveries like finding evidence of water on the moon’s surface. Unfortunately, the second Chandrayaan mission was a failure, as it crashed on the moon’s far side. But this failure is being used by ISRO as an inspiration for Chandrayaan-3 as they aim to use the Chandrayaan-2’s orbiter for the upcoming mission, that’s still hovering above the lunar surface.
SSLV
SSLV or Small Satellite Launch Vehicle is all set to debut in the first quarter of 2022 as India is aiming to emerge as the hotspot to launch Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. The SSLV has the payload capacity (capacity to carry the total weight of cargo and passengers) of 500 kilograms and a 500-kilometre orbital plane (a geometric plane of a revolving body in which its orbit lies). It is a three-stage all-solid vehicle that can accommodate multiple satellite mounts, including nano and micro satellites.