Resurfacing ETCA in negotiations with India

Resurfacing ETCA in negotiations with India

AKD and ETCA with India: Trap or opportunity?

《 Daily FT Monday, 30 December 2024 》

According to the 34-point agreement which President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, AKD for short, had with Prime Minister Narendra Modi or simply Modi, the two countries have agreed to promote, among others, trade and investment between them1. There are three agreements that are strikingly prominent and promising. One is that they have agreed to continue discussion on economic and technological agreement, shortened as ETCA, which is now in an abortive state. Another is the direct use of Indian Rupee or INR and Sri Lanka Rupee or LKR for transactions thereby avoiding the intermediate exchange currency, the US dollar. The third is for India to invest in sectors that will increase Sri Lanka’s export potential. All these are interrelated and should naturally form the core of any ETCA to be negotiated.

AKD’s criticism of ETCA in 2016

But this is not an easy task for AKD, given that the political force behind him, namely, Janata Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP, had taken an anti-ETCA stand in the past2. Speaking at an anti-ETCA seminar hosted by JVP in January 2016, AKD, while appreciating the beneficial impact for Sri Lanka from globalised economic relations with other countries, is reported to have objected to the proposed ETCA with India. He had pronounced at this seminar: “Our opposition depends on whether such an agreement is advantageous to the country or not.”3 He is reported to have further elaborated on this point relating to ETCA with India: “There is a political gamble here. India is trying to intervene in politics in our country. Already, there are many RAW spies in Jaffna. Before our country is made a political play-ground India wants to gobble our economy. Already India has a monopoly in the vehicle, medicine and construction sectors. Already, they are controlling our economy. Through that they manipulate politics in our country. It is this political need that jumps out of Ranil’s mouth. We would never allow this agreement to be signed,”4.

AKD should not treat ETCA as a trap but an immense opportunity for Sri Lanka to get out of the current problems in the medium to long run. In that context, the previous ETCA should be expanded further by incorporating educational affiliations by local universities with those high-ranking Indian counterparts. It will pave way for Sri Lankan universities to improve the academic standards as well as research capabilities. India is expanding its investments heavily in technology and Sri Lanka should seek to harness benefits out of those tech advancements. Hence, AKD should immediately set to business by setting up a competent negotiation team to negotiate, finalise and implement ETCA as early as possible

Pragmatic AKD’s new view of ETCA

Eight years after this public denouncement of India and its ETCA, pragmatic AKD has realised that India is indeed a friend, not a rival, and a force to be reckoned with. The political transformation of a leader in this manner considering the best interest for his people is a salutary development. But to make this agreement a reality, AKD should now field a competent team from Sri Lanka to negotiate with their Indian counterparts on an equal footing so that those so-called dangerous components will not penetrate the final version of ETCA.

Praises and brickbats over new initiative

The announcement in the joint press statement drew praises as well as brickbats for AKD immediately. Ex-President Ranil Wickremesinghe who had made two abortive attempts at upgrading Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement or ISLFTA to a comprehensive economic partnership agreement or CEPA in 2004 and rebranding the same as an economic and technological cooperation agreement or ETCA in 2017 had praised AKD for his bold stand on a new ETCA5. Meanwhile, those who had got their political training through hard JVP ideology have been up in arms against any attempt at rescuing ETCA by AKD. 

Former student leader Wasantha Mudalige who struggled against Wickremesinghe government has told a media briefing that if ETCA is allowed, about a half a million unemployed doctors from India may invade Sri Lanka drawing on its adverse consequences6. Critics are reported to have informed a national newspaper that the proposed move will adversely affect the country’s small and medium enterprises and its services sector, implying that both these sectors are still unable to compete with more advanced Indian counterparts7. 

Taking cue from the critics, foreign minister Vijitha Herath is said to have denied that Sri Lanka has either signed or implemented an ETCA with India8. This is a ‘move for neutralising political opponents’, but it does not augur well for the country intending to enter into an important trade and investment agreement with another country. It seems that AKD’s political backers, namely, National People’s Power or NPP, is buying time.

Indo-Sri Lanka trade relations in the past

Sri Lanka and India being close neighbours, it is natural that both these nations should have a vibrant trade relation with each other. In early days, merchants from Far East visited South Indian ports to buy export goods from Sri Lanka9. But during the latter part of the first millennium, this entrepot trade shifted from south Indian ports to ports in Sri Lanka making it an important trading centre along the East-West marine route10. Sri Lankan numismatist, Osmund Bopearachchi has established through archaeological findings the presence of Sri Lankan traders in South India and Tamil traders in Sri Lanka11. 

Hence, historical evidence has revealed that, as in under trade agreements, it has been a two-way traffic and not trade from India to Sri Lanka alone or vice versa. Both the previous CEPA and ETCA had elaboratively identified these goods to be traded between the two countries under duty-free conditions. But this list may need further updating today and it is the responsibility of the ETCA negotiators from each country to make a hard negotiation of same.

Promising outcome of ISLFTA

Sri Lanka has only a four-and-a-half-decade experience of trade with India under trade agreements. The first Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement or ISLFTA, signed in December 1998, was in effect since January 2000. This trade agreement covers only the visible merchandise goods and not services. But why should Sri Lanka go for a free trade agreement with India when the global trade has become almost free with the average global tariff rate has fallen to 2% by 2022? Several reasons. 

The global trade as a share of the world gross domestic product or GDP has increased from 20% in 2000 to 29% in 2022. But Sri Lanka’s share of exports in the world’s GDP has declined by about 38% during this period and it has remained even less than 0.1% over these years. In contrast, India’s share has increased by about 176% from 0.7% to 1.8% during this period12. 

Given this perilous state, Sri Lanka should naturally jump the bandwagon of India and seek to harness the positive outcomes that would emanate from that relationship. What this means is that though the global tariff rates have declined, Sri Lanka had not been able to benefit from it by competing independently with its competitors. Hence, the support which it can marshal from a dynamic and expanding nation like India is to be utilised fully by developing bilateral trade relations.

Sri Lanka should naturally jump the bandwagon of India and seek to harness the positive outcomes that would emanate from that relationship. What this means is that though the global tariff rates have declined, Sri Lanka had not been able to benefit from it by competing independently with its competitors. Hence, the support which it can marshal from a dynamic and expanding nation like India is to be utilised fully by developing bilateral trade relations

Trading with individuals and not countries

The purpose of trade agreements is to promote trade, both imports and exports. It will therefore enable the two agreeing nations to exchange the surplus goods, while filling shortages at zero or preferential tariff rates. This is true for ISLFTA too. But there are two objections to bilateral trade relations. One relates to the big-small country syndrome like India is big and Sri Lanka is small and, therefore the two countries cannot do trading on an equal footing. This objection is based on unfounded logic since trade takes place not with countries but with individuals or firms. If the big-small logic is valid, a small nation like Singapore can never have trade relations with a giant like USA. But Singapore does trade with USA well because the firms which do trading are guided not by the size but by the quality, price, and the mutual satisfaction.

Protection of domestic industries through a negative list

The other objection relates to the superior competitive advantage which one party may have over the other. In the case of ISLFTA, India is viewed as an economy with higher competitive advantage over those in Sri Lanka. Hence, Indian competition is feared by Sri Lankan counterparts because they, still being infants in business, cannot successfully compete with Indian products. As a result, it is feared that Indian goods will flood the market displacing Sri Lankan producers. This fear has an element of validity, but it had been successfully addressed in ISLFTA by having a list of goods which do not come within the agreement. This list, known as negative list, is longer in the case of Indian goods coming to Sri Lanka containing 1,180 goods and shorter in the case of Sri Lankan goods going to India covering only 429 goods13. This negative list does not enjoy tariff relief and, hence, should be traded under normal trading conditions. 

According to EDB, on average, about 70% of Sri Lanka’s exports to India during 2000-13 had been made under ISLFTA, while Indian products coming to Sri Lanka under the agreement had been only 17%14. Hence, the fear that ISLFTA has caused a free flow of Indian goods to Sri Lanka is not warranted. These negative lists were introduced to ISLFTA to protect domestic industries and thereby allay the fears of local producers. However, an economic analyst has found that the list has negatively contributed to the growth of the protected industries harnessing both the comparative and competitive advantages and preventing both countries to get the maximum benefit from trade liberalisation initiative15. What is suggested here is that countries should expose themselves to free trade arrangements without prohibitive strings attached to them.

India’s signing of trade agreements with all the countries

It is in this background that both India and Sri Lanka planned to graduate themselves to the next stage of economic relations by commencing negotiations for a wider trade agreement in the style of a comprehensive economic partnership in early 2000s. These negotiations produced a basic document for sanctioning by both countries by 2004. However, the change in the Government in Sri Lanka aborted that attempt. CEPA has been India’s style of developing economic relations with the rest of the world which it says is being done with all the countries in the world. So far India has signed comprehensive or enhanced trade partnership agreements with UAE, Australia, Canada, Israel, UK, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, Mauritius, covering the entire world16. Sri Lanka remaining outside this net has been a loser in the trade.

There are two objections to bilateral trade relations. One relates to the big-small country syndrome like India is big and Sri Lanka is small and, therefore the two countries cannot do trading on an equal footing. This objection is based on unfounded logic since trade takes place not with countries but with individuals or firms. If the big-small logic is valid, a small nation like Singapore can never have trade relations with a giant like USA. But Singapore does trade with USA well because the firms which do trading are guided not by the size but by the quality, price, and the mutual satisfaction

Rebranding of CEPA as ETCA in 2015

The Ranil Wickremesinghe Government of 2015-9 sought to correct the situation by rebranding the previous CEPA as an economic and technological cooperation agreement or ETCA in 2015. When there was growing opposition to ETCA, I clarified the position in a five-part article series in this column17. I argued in this series that the wrong perception about ISLFTA has been misconceived since the outcome has been for the country’s benefit. The Government should place the ETCA plan before the people so that the critics can be argued out in intellectual forums and not in streets. The fear that Indian professionals in IT, Law, Medicine, and Engineering will flood Sri Lanka is not based on actual inflows but on the fear to face competition. 

The Government should break the silence on the entire ETCA affair and subject itself to review by people, a good practice under the democratic economic governance. Sri Lanka should link its products to global markets through supply chains developed with Indian counterparts. Sri Lanka will benefit by opening its services sector, especially, education, healthcare, and ICT, to Indian partners. ETCA is a way forward for Sri Lanka to harness the benefits of international trade for creating prosperity to Sri Lankans.

ETCA not a trap but an opportunity

It is this aborted ETCA which has resurfaced in the joint statement by the Indian and Sri Lankan leaders after they met in December 2024. In my view, AKD should not treat ETCA as a trap but an immense opportunity for Sri Lanka to get out of the current problems in the medium to long run. In that context, the previous ETCA should be expanded further by incorporating educational affiliations by local universities with those high-ranking Indian counterparts. It will pave way for Sri Lankan universities to improve the academic standards as well as research capabilities. India is expanding its investments heavily in technology and Sri Lanka should seek to harness benefits out of those tech advancements. Hence, AKD should immediately set to business by setting up a competent negotiation team to negotiate, finalise and implement ETCA as early as possible.

Footnotes:

1https://mfa.gov.lk/india-sri-lanka-joint-statement/ 

2https://www.jvpsrilanka.com/english/jvp-would-not-allow-ranil-to-subdue-mass-struggles-with-his-arrogance/ 

3Ibid. 

4Ibid.

5https://www.ft.lk/front-page/Ranil-praises-AKD-for-advancing-ETCA-with-India/44-770633 

6https://www.thecolombopost.org/2024/12/5-lakh-indian-doctors-to-sri-lanka-with-etca-agreement/ 

7https://www.sundaytimes.lk/241222/business-times/indo-lanka-etca-talks-revived-after-presidents-indian-visit-581107.html 

8https://srilankamirror.com/news/vijitha-clarifies-govts-stance-on-etca/ 

9De Silva, K M, 2005, A History of Sri Lanka, Vijitha Yapa, Colombo p 45.

10Siriweera, W I, 1994, A Study of the Economic History of Pre-modern Sri Lanka, Vikas, Delhi, p 133. 

11https://books.openedition.org/ifp/7871#:~:text=Tamil%20Nadu%20and%20Sri%20Lanka,a%20different%20and%20important%20context. 

12https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-global-merchandise-exports?tab=table&time=earliest..latest&country=Africa+%28UN%29~Asia+%28UN%29~Europe+%28UN%29~Northern+America+%28UN%29~Latin+America+and+the+Caribbean+%28UN%29~Developing+regions~Least+Developed+Countries+%28LDCs%29~Northern+Africa+%28UN%29~Sub-Saharan+Africa+%28UN%29~Oceania+%28UN%29~LKA~IND 

13EDB, 2014, Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, unpublished mimeograph, Colombo.

14Ibid. p 5.

15Perera, M S S, 2008, Impact of the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement on the Sri Lankan Economy: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis, South Asia Economic Journal, 9:1, p 1-50.

16https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1781867 

17They can be accessed at: https://www.ft.lk/columns/sri-lanka-faces-crucial-tests-ahead-with-growing-opposition-to-etca/4-525181 ; https://www.ft.lk/columns/etca-is-not-cepa-in-all-respects-but-it-should-be-made-public-to-allay-fears/4-526676 ; https://www.ft.lk/columns/management-of-economic-policy-3-sri-lanka-should-tap-global-unbundling-opportunities-of-services-und/4-527941 ; https://www.ft.lk/columns/padeniya-chinthana-on-etca-govt-should-fight-it-in-intellectual-forums-not-in-the-streets/4-529777 ; and https://www.ft.lk/columns/etca-or-any-other-policy-is-destined-to-fail-if-not-properly-managed/4-530899 .

Court Deadline To Punjab Over Fasting Farm Leader's Health

Chandigarh:

Farm activists at the Khanauri border point have increased security around the protest site, fearing that the Punjab government might once again try to whisk away the fasting veteran farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal and get him hospitalised.

The steps came in the wake of the Supreme Court's order that gave the Punjab government time till December 31 to persuade Dallewal, who has been fasting for over a month, to shift to hospital.

The 67-year-old has been on hunger strike since November 26 to press the Centre to accept farmers' demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP).

The top court on Saturday granted the state government additional time to comply with its December 20 order and instructed the Centre to provide logistical support if requested.

The Punjab government, while acknowledging the court's concerns, maintained that the government was in a difficult position.

"The entire protest site is under siege by farmers who refuse to let him be moved. Any use of force may lead to collateral damage, both to the farmers and the police," Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh argued in the court.

The farmers have set up 24x7 vigils at the site and restricted access to Dallewal has become a major challenge for the police.

Dallewal has been on hunger strike since November 26 to press the Centre to accept farmers' demands.

The Supreme Court on Saturday lashed out at the Punjab government for its inability to hospitalise Dallewal, who has been on a hunger strike for over a month, despite repeated medical advice, observing that this is not just a "failure of law-and-order machinery" but also an "abetment to suicide".

Marking the second consecutive day the state faced the court's ire for not complying with repeated orders to ensure Dallewal's hospitalisation, the top court also lambasted those obstructing his hospitalisation, stating that the Supreme Court would not succumb to pressure and would not tolerate "a violent face" of the farmers' movement.

Convening a special sitting during the vacation, a bench of justices Surya Kant and Sudhanshu Dhulia condemned the state's handling of the situation, questioning why it allowed "a virtual fort to be created" around the protest site, adding the state government seems to support the agitation that may result in Dallewal's death.

The matter has been adjourned to December 31, with the court warning that it would take strict action against the state chief secretary KAP Sinha and DGP Gaurav Yadav if its directions regarding Dallewal's hospitalisation were not followed.

The Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government came under fire from the Supreme Court on the second consecutive day on Saturday even as the state's chief secretary and director general of police (DGP) cited "fear of resistance and violence" and "collateral damage" as reasons for not being able to shift Dallewal to a hospital.

The two officers, who face contempt proceedings for not complying with the December 20 order of the court regarding Dallewal's hospitalisation, remained present virtually during the court proceedings, as per the bench's directive on Saturday.

Punjab's advocate general Gurminder Singh went on to the extent of saying that the state is "helpless" in complying with the court order for moving Dallewal to a hospital.

Singh informed the court that multiple medical boards have been monitoring Dallewal's health and that senior Ministers and the Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan had attempted to persuade him to seek medical aid.

However, Dallewal and several groups of farmers continued to resist hospitalisation, citing their demands for MSP guarantees and other agrarian reforms.

Reading out the affidavit submitted by the chief secretary and DGP, the Attorney General admitted that multiple groups of farmers had encircled the protest site, preventing authorities from moving Dallewal to a hospital.

"Who has allowed this situation to perpetuate? Who has let a virtual fort be created around him? Is this not a failure of law-and-order machinery?" the bench asked pointedly.

"This is not a question of demands or agitation. Preventing someone who is critically unwell from receiving medical treatment is unacceptable and unheard of. This is a criminal offence and nothing short of abetment to suicide," it added.

The bench further observed that the Punjab government's actions suggested tacit support for the protestors preventing Dallewal's hospitalisation.

"Your affidavit gives the impression that the state is supporting him in continuing his fast at the site. Let us be very clear -- the farmers' agitation is a separate issue and we have repeatedly said through our orders that their demands would be looked into. But allowing a man's life to be endangered in this manner is a failure of constitutional duty," the bench remarked.

The court expressed dismay that the state was failing to strike a balance between maintaining law and order and protecting human life. Addressing the AG and the top officials present, the bench said: "Your officers have seen Punjab's history of tackling significant challenges. Punjab has a glorious history of dealing with difficult situations in the past."

As Singh said that farmers could agree to Dallewal's hospitalisation if some "conciliation" was offered to them, the court responded: "It's becoming clear that the government is speaking in their voice, but we are a constitutional court and we will not budge. If anyone wants to pressure us or put a precondition, we are not going to accept it...And you don't have to be their spokesperson. We have already offered our platform to them."

The bench granted the Punjab government additional time to comply with its December 20 order. It also instructed the Centre to provide logistical support if requested.

"We are with the people of Punjab and the farmer community. Our orders are not adversarial but aim to protect the life of one of the state's tallest farmer leaders," the court said.

The matter has been adjourned to December 31, with the court warning that it would take strict action against the state chief secretary and DGP if its directions regarding Dallewal's hospitalisation were not followed.

The court also questioned the motives of those obstructing Dallewal's hospitalisation, describing their actions as detrimental to the farmer community.

"There appears to be peer pressure. What kind of farmer leaders are there who want Dallewal to die? We don't want to comment on the bona fide of such leaders who want him to die like this. He seems to be under pressure or such kind of leader. If Dallewal is under peer pressure, what does it say about the bonafide of these so-called leaders?" the bench asked.

Emphasising the urgency of the situation, the court observed, "Dallewal can continue his fast in a hospital where his vitals can be managed. He does not need to break his fast, but he cannot be allowed to endanger his life in this manner."

It told the top officers that they must communicate to the people at the protest site that those preventing Dallewal's hospitalisation want to deprive the farmer community of one of its tallest leaders.

During previous hearings on December 18 and 20, the court had cautioned that "the entire state machinery will bear the blame" if any harm befell Dallewal.

Dallewal's hunger strike, which began on November 26, is part of a broader agitation demanding systemic agricultural reforms and legal guarantees for MSP. Protests under the banners of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have caused significant disruptions in Punjab and Haryana.

Despite mediation efforts by a Supreme Court-appointed committee, the impasse has continued.

The committee's report has highlighted critical agrarian challenges, including unsustainable farming practices and mounting farmer debts, urging swift government intervention.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Punjab farmers call for 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' on January 4

பஞ்சாப் முடக்கம் விவசாயிகள் 'பந்த்' வெற்றி

அன்னை இந்திரா,உலகமய நாயகன் மன் மோகன் சிங் பாதையில் பாசிச மோடி ஆட்சியின் உலகமய தனியார்மய தாராளமய பொருளாதாரக் கொள்கைகளின் `உலகமய வளர்ச்சி`, இலட்சோபம் இலட்சம் இந்திய விவசாயிகளை வாட்டி வதைத்து வருகின்றது.

பசி,பஞ்சம், பட்டினியும், கடன் தற்கொலையும் வருடா வருடம் அதிகரித்த வண்ணம் உள்ளன.இது வரையில் கடன் தற்கொலை மட்டும் ஏழு இலட்சத்தைத் தாண்டி விட்டதாக விவசாய சங்கங்கள் குற்றம் சாட்டுகின்றன. 

 

மோடி ஆட்சியின் `உலகமய வளர்ச்சி`ப் பாதை விவசாயத்தை புறந்தள்ளி,அதானி அம்பானி கும்பலின் தரகுத் தொழில் துறையயும்,ஏகாதிபத்திய சேவைத்துறையையும் ஊக்குவித்து வருவதே விவசாயிகளின் இத் துர்ப்பாக்கிய நிலைக்கு காரணமாகும்.

பஞ்சாப் விவசாய மாநிலத்தை இது நேரடியாக பெரிதும் பாதித்து வருகின்றது, தமிழகத்திலும் இத் தற்கொலைச் சாவுகள் அதிகரித்த வண்ணம் உள்ளன.

இவை தேசிய உணர்வையும் இயக்கங்களையும் தூண்டி வருகின்றன. இதனால் பாசிச மோடி அரசும், அதன் அடிவருடி மாநில அரசுகளும் விவசாய இயக்கங்களை இரும்புக் கரம் கொண்டு நசுக்கி வருகின்றன. நக்சல்பாரி புகழ் பூத்த, தமிழக அரசு இதற்கு விதிவிலக்கல்ல.

எனினும் இந்தியா எங்கும் விவசாயக் கிளர்ச்சிகள் இந்த அடக்குமுறைகளுக்கு அஞ்சாது வெடித்துக் கிளர்ந்த வண்ணம் உள்ளன. பஞ்சாப் மாநிலம் இதில் முன்னிலையில் உள்ளது.

இத் தொடர் போராட்டத்தின் ஒரு பகுதியாக இன்று 30-12-24 அன்று கோரப்பட்ட `பஞ்சாப் முடக்கம்` பந்த்-வேலை நிறுத்தம்- பஞ்சாப் மாநிலம் முழுவதையும் ஸ்தம்பிக்கச் செய்து பெரு வெற்றி அடைந்துள்ளது.

மேலும் ஜனவரி 4 புதிய ஆண்டில் நாடு தழுவிய பேரணிக்கு அழைப்பு விடப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இந்திய விவசாயிகள் கிளர்ச்சி ஓங்குக! வெல்க!!

மோடி ஆட்சியே விவசாய சங்க கோரிக்கைகளை உடனே நிறைவேற்று!

பஞ்சாப் டெல்கி பாதையில் முளைத்துள்ள `கொங்கிரீற் மலைகளை` அகற்று!

போராடும் விவசாயிகள் மீது அடக்குமுறை வன்முறையை ஏவாதே!

என புதிய ஈழப் புரட்சியாளர்கள் முழங்குகின்றனர். ENB

சென்னை புத்தகக் காட்சி 2025

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Puthiya Jannayakam Publishers. Stall NoS 245-246

Puthiya Jannayakam Publishers. Stall NoS 245-246

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Makes History With Closest Pass to Sun

An artist's concept showing Parker Solar Probe. Credits: NASA/APL

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Makes History With Closest Pass to Sun

Operations teams have confirmed NASA’s mission to “touch” the Sun survived its record-breaking closest approach to the solar surface on Dec. 24, 2024.

Breaking its previous record by flying just 3.8 million miles above the surface of the Sun, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe hurtled through the solar atmosphere at a blazing 430,000 miles per hour — faster than any human-made object has ever moved. A beacon tone received late on Dec. 26 confirmed the spacecraft had made it through the encounter safely and is operating normally.

This pass, the first of more to come at this distance, allows the spacecraft to conduct unrivaled scientific measurements with the potential to change our understanding of the Sun.

 "Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity’s first mission to a star,” said Nicky Fox, who leads the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By studying the Sun up close, we can better understand its impacts throughout our solar system, including on the technology we use daily on Earth and in space, as well as learn about the workings of stars across the universe to aid in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet.”

https://youtu.be/c80TzqNoqMg?si=eBE69X4gQ1UN9Rvu

NASA's Parker Solar Probe survived its record-breaking closest approach to the solar surface on Dec. 24, 2024. Breaking its previous record by flying just 3.8 million miles above the surface of the Sun, the spacecraft hurtled through the solar atmosphere at a blazing 430,000 miles per hour — faster than any human-made object has ever moved.Credits: NASA 

This video can be freely shared and downloaded at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14741.

Parker Solar Probe has spent the last six years setting up for this moment. Launched in 2018, the spacecraft used seven flybys of Venus to gravitationally direct it ever closer to the Sun. With its last Venus flyby on Nov. 6, 2024, the spacecraft reached its optimal orbit. This oval-shaped orbit brings the spacecraft an ideal distance from the Sun every three months — close enough to study our Sun’s mysterious processes but not too close to become overwhelmed by the Sun’s heat and damaging radiation. The spacecraft will remain in this orbit for the remainder of its primary mission.

“Parker Solar Probe is braving one of the most extreme environments in space and exceeding all expectations,” said Nour Rawafi, the project scientist for Parker Solar Probe at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), which designed, built, and operates the spacecraft from its campus in Laurel, Maryland. “This mission is ushering a new golden era of space exploration, bringing us closer than ever to unlocking the Sun’s deepest and most enduring mysteries.”

Close to the Sun, the spacecraft relies on a carbon foam shield to protect it from the extreme heat in the upper solar atmosphere called the corona, which can exceed 1 million degrees Fahrenheit. The shield was designed to reach temperatures of 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit — hot enough to melt steel — while keeping the instruments behind it shaded at a comfortable room temperature. 

In the hot but low-density corona, the spacecraft’s shield is expected to warm to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

The spacecraft’s record close distance of 3.8 million miles may sound far, but on cosmic scales it’s incredibly close. If the solar system was scaled down with the distance between the Sun and Earth the length of a football field, Parker Solar Probe would be just four yards from the end zone — close enough to pass within the tenuous outer atmosphere of the Sun known as the corona.NASA/APL

“It’s monumental to be able to get a spacecraft this close to the Sun,” said John Wirzburger, the Parker Solar Probe mission systems engineer at APL. “This is a challenge the space science community has wanted to tackle since 1958 and had spent decades advancing the technology to make it possible.”

By flying through the solar corona, Parker Solar Probe can take measurements that help scientists better understand how the region gets so hot, trace the origin of the solar wind (a constant flow of material escaping the Sun), and discover how energetic particles are accelerated to half the speed of light.

“The data is so important for the science community because it gives us another vantage point,” said Kelly Korreck, a program scientist at NASA Headquarters and heliophysicist who worked on one of the mission’s instruments. 

“By getting first hand accounts of what’s happening in the solar atmosphere, Parker Solar Probe has revolutionized our understanding of the Sun.”

Previous passes have already aided scientists’ understanding of the Sun. When the spacecraft first passed into the solar atmosphere in 2021, it found the outer boundary of the corona is wrinkled with spikes and valleys, contrary to what was expected. Parker Solar Probe also pinpointed the origin of important zig-zag-shaped structures in the solar wind, called switchbacks, at the visible surface of the Sun — the photosphere.

Since that initial pass into the Sun, the spacecraft has been spending more time in the corona, where most of the critical physical processes occur.

This conceptual image shows Parker Solar Probe about to enter the solar corona. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ben Smith

“We now understand the solar wind and its acceleration away from the Sun,” said Adam Szabo, the Parker Solar Probe mission scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “This close approach will give us more data to understand how it’s accelerated closer in.”

Parker Solar Probe has also made discoveries across the inner solar system. Observations showed how giant solar explosions called coronal mass ejections vacuum up dust as they sweep across the solar system, and other observations revealed unexpected findings about solar energetic particles. Flybys of Venus have documented the planet’s natural radio emissions from its atmosphere, as well as the first complete image of its orbital dust ring.

So far, the spacecraft has only transmitted that it’s safe, but soon it will be in a location that will allow it to downlink the data it collected on this latest solar pass.

“The data that will come down from the spacecraft will be fresh information about a place that we, as humanity, have never been,” said Joe Westlake, the director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. “It’s an amazing accomplishment.”

The spacecraft’s next planned close solar passes come on March 22, 2025, and June 19, 2025.

《 By Mara Johnson-Groh NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 》