Recently, Union Cabinet approved the Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM) as India's maiden mission to Venus.
About VOM
- Target date for launch: March 2028; it’ll take 112-days to reach Venus.
- Launch Vehicle: Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3).
- Objectives of VOM: Examine dust in Venusian atmosphere and its airglow, mapping its surface topography, studying solar X-ray spectrum and investigating sub-surface characteristics.
- VOM will also demonstrate technologies: e.g., testing aerobraking and thermal management techniques in harsh Venusian environment.
- Payloads: 19 payloads have been recommended to be onboard VOM, of which 16 are Indian payloads, 2 are Indian and international collaborative payloads, and 1 international payload.
Key Scientific payloads/ experiments recommended for VOM
- Venus Thermal Camera: For understanding atmospheric dynamics and Venusian clouds.
- Narrow band oxygen Airglow detection in Venusian Atmosphere (NAVA): To measure airglow emissions.
- Venus Advanced Radar for Topside Ionosphere and Subsurface Sounding (VARTISS): To study structure of ionosphere; study active volcanic hotspots and detect buried features.
- Venus Orbit Dust Experiment (VODEX): To study Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs) at Venus.
- Other Payloads: Venus Ionospheric and Solar Wind Particle AnalySer (VISWAS), Radio Anatomy of Venus Ionosphere (RAVI); and VIRAL (Venus InfraRed Atmospheric gases Linker) developed by Russia, etc.
Other Important Venusian Missions
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