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ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organization, has a busy schedule ahead with several missions lined up. The Aditya-L1 space-based observatory, India’s first dedicated mission to study the Sun, is expected to launch in September. It will be followed by the launch of a climate observation satellite, INSAT-3DS.

In addition to these missions, ISRO is also preparing for the launch of a test vehicle as part of the Gaganyaan human space flight program. This mission aims to validate the crew escape system for India’s first human space flight.

Furthermore, the XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite), the country’s first dedicated polarimetry mission to study bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions, is also ready for launch.

ISRO Chairman, Somanath S, announced that the organization has a lot on its plate. Apart from these missions, ISRO is also working on the India-US Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR). Developed jointly by NASA and ISRO, NISAR is an observatory that will map the entire globe in 12 days. It will provide data on changes in Earth’s ecosystems, vegetation biomass, ice mass, sea level rise, and natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and landslides.

ISRO officials explained that NISAR operates with a dual-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and uses the Sweep SAR technique to achieve a large swath with high-resolution data. The observatory consists of SAR payloads mounted on the Integrated Radar Instrument Structure (IRIS) and the spacecraft bus.

Before embarking on the Gaganyaan human space flight mission, ISRO plans to conduct two unmanned missions. The first unmanned crew module mission is scheduled for the beginning of next year. The objective of the Gaganyaan mission is to demonstrate India’s capability to conduct human space flight missions to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The mission’s orbital module, consisting of a crew module and a service module, will be positioned in a 400 km circular orbit around Earth for one to three days before returning to a designated location at sea.

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