Sweden has officially partnered with ISRO’s Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM), following approval by the Union Cabinet last week. The Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) is set to supply ISRO with the Venusian Neutrals Analyser (VNA), an advanced yet compact and energy-efficient instrument designed to analyze energetic neutral atoms (ENA).
The VNA will explore how particles from the Sun interact with Venus' atmosphere and outer layer.
The VOM mission marks Sweden’s second venture into Venus exploration. The Indian government has approved a budget of Rs. 1,236 Crore for the mission, with Rs. 824 Crore allocated for the spacecraft. Sweden’s VNA instrument will be part of the Venus Ionospheric and Solar Wind Particle AnalySer (VISWAS), developed by the Space Physics Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Notably, the Swedish Institute of Space Physics also led the plasma package on the European Space Agency’s Venus Express mission, which ran from 2004 to 2014.
Sweden has collaborated with India in space exploration since 1986, notably partnering with ISRO on Chandrayaan missions 1, 2, and 3. Sweden now seeks to expand its partnership to Chandrayaan 4 and India's ambitious human spaceflight mission, Ganganyaan.
The VOM (Venus Orbiter Mission) probe will study Venus' transformation from a potentially habitable planet to its current hostile environment, shedding light on planetary evolution. India's Department of Space will launch VOM, orbiting a scientific spacecraft around Venus to uncover the causes of this drastic change. This mission will also pave the way for future Indian planetary missions with advanced payloads and optimized orbit insertion strategies.