The Union Budget 2026 has approved the establishment of the National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) and the National Large Optical–Near Infrared Telescope (NLOT), along with the upgrade of the Himalayan Chandra Telescope in Ladakh. Leveraging the region’s high altitude, dry atmosphere, and clear skies, these facilities will strengthen India’s capabilities in solar studies, space weather monitoring, exoplanet detection, and deep-space research. The projects will enhance indigenous technological expertise, provide greater access to Indian scientists, support major missions like Aditya-L1 and LIGO-India, and position India as a key global hub for advanced observational astronomy.
Click to View MoreThe Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission is a NASA Mars orbiter that studies how the Red Planet lost much of its atmosphere due to solar wind and radiation, helping explain Mars’s climatic transformation and providing key insights into planetary atmosphere evolution and habitability.
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