ISRO has confirmed in its Annual Report that the Preliminary Design Review of the Venus Orbiter Mission has been successfully completed.

This marks a significant milestone in India’s first mission to Venus, which has been steadily progressing since formal approvals were secured in April 2025 to advance international collaborations.

Among these collaborations is an arrangement with the Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS for the Venus InfraRed Atmospheric gases Linker payload, developed by the Russian Space Institute, and the Venusian Neutrals Analyzer payload from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics.

A science working group has been established to maximise the mission’s scientific output, and a Principal Scientist has been appointed to lead the effort.

The report makes mention of lander and rover payloads, though this is almost certainly an error. No spacecraft has survived on the surface of Venus for more than a few hours, given the planet’s extreme conditions of crushing atmospheric pressure and searing temperatures.

Operating a lander or rover in such an environment remains one of the most formidable challenges in planetary exploration. In October 2025, ISRO convened a national science meet in Bangalore, attended by around 150 researchers from ISRO and national institutions, alongside 70 scientists from 40 foreign institutions. To broaden participation, ISRO also released archival data on Venus for the scientific community.

The mission’s science goals are ambitious. ISRO aims to deepen understanding of the atmosphere, ionosphere, surface and subsurface of Venus. The mission will also study how solar wind and space weather interact with the planet.

Researchers intend to investigate the structure, dynamics and composition of the atmosphere, while revealing the topography hidden beneath the thick haze. Geological mapping and mineralogical studies are also planned.

A key element of the mission is the deployment of an atmospheric probe from the orbiter, designed to descend into the atmosphere and transmit data for as long as possible. In total, ISRO is equipping the mission with 19 payloads, reflecting the breadth of its scientific objectives.

The Venus Orbiter Mission is scheduled for launch no earlier than March 2028. With its comprehensive payload suite and international collaborations, the mission is expected to generate unprecedented data on Venus, advancing global understanding of one of the most enigmatic planets in the solar system.

Agencies