New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS): Sweden has officially joined ISRO's Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM), approved last week by the Union Cabinet.

The Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) will reportedly provide ISRO with the Venusian Neutrals Analyser instrument (VNA) -- a lightweight, low-power but highly capable energetic neutral atom (ENA) analyser.

The VNA will study the interaction between charged particles from the Sun and Venus’ atmosphere and exosphere.

The VOM mission, expected to launch in March 2028, will help unravel “Venusian atmosphere, geology and generate large amounts of science data probing into its thick atmosphere,” according to a Cabinet communique.

The Cabinet has also “approved a fund of Rs. 1,236 Crore for the VOM, of which Rs 824 Crore will be spent on the spacecraft”.

The VNA will be integrated into the plasma package, Venus Ionospheric and Solar Wind Particle AnalySer (VISWAS), provided by the Space Physics Laboratory (SPL) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

The IRF was also the Principal Investigator of the plasma package on the European Space Agency’s Venus Express mission from 2004-2014. The VOM mission will be Sweden’s second Venus exploration.

Sweden has been India’s space partner since 1986. It also partnered with ISRO on Chandrayaan missions 1, 2 and 3. The country also aims to partner with Chandrayaan 4 and Ganganyaan - - India’s human spaceflight mission.

Venus is the closest planet to Earth and is believed to have formed in conditions similar to Earth.

The VOM probe offers a unique opportunity to understand how planetary environments can evolve very differently, and to find the causes for the transformation of Venus -- believed to be once habitable and quite similar to Earth.

The VOM mission will be accomplished by the Department of Space and is envisaged to orbit a scientific spacecraft in the orbit of planet Venus.

The mission would also enable India for future planetary missions with larger payloads, and optimal orbit insertion approaches.