Bengaluru, August 30th: Providing an update on the progress of the Aditya-L1 solar mission, ISRO announced on Wednesday the successful completion of the launch rehearsal and internal assessments of the rocket. The mission is set to be launched on September 2nd at 11:50 am from the Sriharikota spaceport.
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft is meticulously crafted to facilitate remote observations of the solar corona and in situ analysis of the solar wind at the L1 point, situated approximately 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth. Representing India’s pioneering endeavor in solar observations, this mission marks ISRO’s first dedicated space exploration of the Sun and is spearheaded by its headquarters in Bengaluru.
The spacecraft, a breakthrough Indian solar observatory, will be launched into orbit through the PSLV-C57 rocket. ISRO shared their progress on the launch preparations via a social media update, stating that the Launch Rehearsal and Vehicle Internal Checks have been successfully finalized.
The primary objective of the Aditya-L1 mission revolves around scrutinizing the Sun’s dynamics from an L1 orbit. It carries a suite of seven instruments designed to observe distinct solar components such as the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layer, the corona, across various wavebands.
An ISRO official emphasized that Aditya-L1 stands as a proud testament to India’s indigenous capabilities, with significant contributions from national institutions. The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), headquartered in Bengaluru, leads the development of the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph payload. Additionally, the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune has crafted the Solar Ultraviolet Imager payload.
The Aditya-L1 mission’s multifaceted capabilities include coronal observations, insights into the solar chromosphere through the UV payload, and analysis of solar flares using X-ray payloads. Furthermore, particle detectors and the magnetometer payload offer the potential to gather valuable data on charged particles and the magnetic field within the L1 halo orbit.
