After Moon and Mars, India eyes Venus with ₹1,236 cr mission

The Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the development of Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM), a significant step towards exploring and studying Venus.

The total fund approved for the Venus Orbiter Mission is ₹1,236 crore. Out of this, ₹824.00 crore will be spent on the spacecraft. The cost includes development and realisation of the spacecraft including its specific payloads and technology elements, global ground station support cost for navigation and network as well as the cost of the launch vehicle.

Venus, the closest planet to Earth and believed to have formed in conditions similar to Earth, offers a unique opportunity to understand how planetary environments can evolve very differently.

ISRO will be responsible for the development of the spacecraft and its launch. The project will be managed and monitored through the established practices prevailing at ISRO. The data generated from the mission would be disseminated to the scientific community through existing mechanisms, the Centre says.

“The mission is expected to be accomplished on the opportunity available during March 2028. The Indian Venus mission is expected to answer some of the outstanding scientific questions resulting in various scientific outcomes. The realisation of the spacecraft and launch vehicle is through various industries and it is envisaged that there would be large employment potential and technology spin-off to other sectors of the economy,” it says.

The Cabinet also approved the development of a re-usable Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) with ₹8,240 crore funding. This includes the development costs, three developmental flights, essential facility establishment, programme management and launch campaign.

NGLV will be crucial for operating the Bharatiya Antariksh Station and towards developing capability for Indian Crewed Landing on the Moon by 2040. It will have 3 times the present payload capability with 1.5 times the cost compared to LVM3, and will also have reusability resulting in low-cost access to space and modular green propulsion systems.

NGLV is designed to have a maximum payload capability of 30 tonnes to Low Earth Orbit, which also has a reusable first stage. Currently, India has achieved self-reliance in space transportation systems to launch satellites up to 10 tonne to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 4 tonne to Geo-Synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) through the currently operational PSLV, GSLV, LVM3 and SSLV launch vehicles.

The NGLV development project will be implemented with maximal participation from the Indian industry, the government says.