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India is set to launch its first mission to Venus in March 2028, following the recent approval from the Union Cabinet. This mission, led by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), marks India’s second interplanetary endeavor after the successful Mars Orbiter Mission in 2013.

Importance of Studying Venus

• Earth's Twin: Venus is often referred to as Earth’s twin due to its similar mass, density, and size. Understanding Venus can provide insights into Earth’s own evolution.
• Extreme Conditions: The planet has a surface temperature around 462°C and an atmospheric pressure similar to that found deep under Earth’s oceans. Its atmosphere consists primarily of 96.5% carbon dioxide and features clouds of sulfuric acid.
• Historical Water Presence: Venus may have had water in the past, leading scientists to explore how it transitioned to its current hostile environment, likely due to a runaway greenhouse effect.

Mission Overview

• Launch Timeline: The mission will utilize a strategic launch window when Earth and Venus are closest, occurring every 19 months. It was initially planned for 2023 but is now set for 2028.
• Payload: The mission will carry around 100 kg of scientific instruments, including 17 Indian and 7 international experiments.
• Journey to Venus: After exiting Earth's orbit, the spacecraft will take about 140 days to reach Venus.

Aero-Braking Technique

• First-time Use: This mission will employ aero-braking, a technique to adjust the spacecraft’s orbit by skimming through Venus's atmosphere, creating drag that reduces altitude.
• Target Orbit: The satellite will initially be in a highly elliptical orbit of 500 km x 60,000 km and will be gradually lowered to an orbit of either 300 x 300 km or 200 x 600 km over about six months.

Scientific Payloads

• Synthetic Aperture Radar: For imaging the surface of Venus.
• Thermal Camera: To study temperature variations.
• Interplanetary Dust Analysis: Investigating dust particle flow.
• High-Energy Particle Studies: Examining particles entering the atmosphere and their ionization effects.
• Atmospheric Composition Study: Assessing the structure, variability, and thermal state of Venus’s atmosphere.

Which countries are trying to study Venus?

• There have been several missions to Venus in the past by the United States, the erstwhile USSR, Japan, and a collaborative mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) with Japan.
• The US has planned at least two more missions to Venus in the future — DaVinci in 2029 and Veritas in 2031 — and the ESA has planned the EnVision mission for 2030.