The Aditya-L1, India’s first space observatory for solar research, is getting ready for launch in the first week of September
25 August 2023 - 14:36
byNivedita Bhattacharjee
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
People celebrate the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft's landing, in New Delhi, India, August 23 2023. Picture: ANUSHREE FADNAVIS/REUTERS
Bengaluru — On the heels of the success of the Chandrayaan-3 moon landing, India’s space agency has set a date for its next mission — this time to study the sun.
The Aditya-L1, India’s first space observatory for solar research, is getting ready for launch at the country’s main spaceport in Sriharikota, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told reporters at its satellite command centre this week, as scientists and crew celebrated the moon mission's success.
“We are planning to launch in the first week of September,” said ISRO chairman S. Somanath.
What will Aditya-L1 do?
Named after the Hindi word for the sun, the spacecraft is India’s first space-based solar probe. It aims to study solar winds, which can cause disturbance on earth and are commonly seen as “auroras”.
Longer term, data from the mission could help better understand the sun’s impact on earth’s climate patterns.
Recently, researchers said the European Space Agency/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft had detected numerous relatively small jets of charged particles expelled intermittently from the corona — the sun's outer atmosphere — which could help shed light on the origins of solar wind.
How far will it travel?
Hitching a ride on India’s heavy-duty launch vehicle, the PSLV, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft will travel 1.5 million km in about four months to study the sun’s atmosphere.
It will head to a kind of parking lot in space where objects tend to stay put because of balancing gravitational forces, reducing fuel consumption for the spacecraft.
Those positions are called Lagrange Points, named after Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange.
How much does the mission cost?
In 2019, the government sanctioned the equivalent of about $46m (R858m) for the Aditya-L1 mission. ISRO has not given an official update on costs.
The Indian space agency has earned a reputation for world-beating cost competitiveness in space engineering that executives and planners expect will boost its now-privatised space industry.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission, which landed a spacecraft on the lunar south pole, had a budget of about $75m.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
India’s next space mission will study the sun
The Aditya-L1, India’s first space observatory for solar research, is getting ready for launch in the first week of September
Bengaluru — On the heels of the success of the Chandrayaan-3 moon landing, India’s space agency has set a date for its next mission — this time to study the sun.
The Aditya-L1, India’s first space observatory for solar research, is getting ready for launch at the country’s main spaceport in Sriharikota, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told reporters at its satellite command centre this week, as scientists and crew celebrated the moon mission's success.
“We are planning to launch in the first week of September,” said ISRO chairman S. Somanath.
What will Aditya-L1 do?
Named after the Hindi word for the sun, the spacecraft is India’s first space-based solar probe. It aims to study solar winds, which can cause disturbance on earth and are commonly seen as “auroras”.
Longer term, data from the mission could help better understand the sun’s impact on earth’s climate patterns.
Recently, researchers said the European Space Agency/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft had detected numerous relatively small jets of charged particles expelled intermittently from the corona — the sun's outer atmosphere — which could help shed light on the origins of solar wind.
How far will it travel?
Hitching a ride on India’s heavy-duty launch vehicle, the PSLV, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft will travel 1.5 million km in about four months to study the sun’s atmosphere.
It will head to a kind of parking lot in space where objects tend to stay put because of balancing gravitational forces, reducing fuel consumption for the spacecraft.
Those positions are called Lagrange Points, named after Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange.
How much does the mission cost?
In 2019, the government sanctioned the equivalent of about $46m (R858m) for the Aditya-L1 mission. ISRO has not given an official update on costs.
The Indian space agency has earned a reputation for world-beating cost competitiveness in space engineering that executives and planners expect will boost its now-privatised space industry.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission, which landed a spacecraft on the lunar south pole, had a budget of about $75m.
Reuters
India makes history with landing on moon’s south pole
India is well placed in race to another side of the moon
India’s rover set to explore lunar terrain
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
India gets closer to trying to land on Moon’s south pole after Russia fails
Russian space craft crashes into moon as first mission in 47 years fails
Russia heads back to moon after nearly 50 years
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.