Aditya-L1 launch: Isro sun mission's launch date, time, and where to watch

It will take the spacecraft around 3 months to reach its destination which is 1.5 million km away

The Aditya-L1 mission is set to be launched at 11:50 am on Saturday, September 2 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). This latest mission comes within weeks of Chandrayaan-3's successful landing on the south pole of the Moon.

As the countdown for the Aditya-L1 launch begins, here is everything you need to know about Isro's Sun mission.

Aditya L1 date

Saturday, September 2, 2023

Aditya L1 launch time

11:50 am

Aditya L1 launch location

Sriharikota

Where to watch Aditya L1 mission live:

Citizens can watch the Aditya L1 mission live on the following platfoms

Isro Website https://isro.gov.in

Facebook https://facebook.com/ISRO

YouTube https://youtube.com/watch?v=_IcgGYZTXQw

DD National TV channel from 11:20 am IST

What is Aditya L1?

The Aditya L1 mission is India's initiative toward exploring the Sun.

The polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) will be used to bring the 1,475 kg spacecraft into low Earth orbit. Following this, the orbit and velocity of the spacecraft around the Earth will be increased until it will be slingshot towards the Sun, much like the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

What is the L1 point?

The spacecraft will be headed towards Lagrange 1, also known as the L1 point. This is located between the Earth and the Sun. There are five Lagrange points between any two celestial bodies.

It will take about 120 days (around four months) for the Isro's spacecraft to reach its destination, L1. The distance it has to cover is approximately 1.5 million km from the Earth. This is roughly four times the distance Chandrayaan-3 travelled, but it only covers around one per cent of the distance between Earth and the Sun, which is 151 million kilometers away.

Objectives of Isro's solar mission

According to Isro, these are the following objectives of the sun exploration mission:

• Study of solar upper atmospheric (chromosphere and corona) dynamics
• Study of chromospheric and coronal heating, physics of the partially ionized plasma, initiation of the coronal mass ejections, and flares
• Observe the in-situ particle and plasma environment providing data for the study of particle dynamics from the Sun
• Physics of solar corona and its heating mechanism
• Diagnostics of the coronal and coronal loops plasma: Temperature, velocity and density
• Development, dynamics and origin of coronal mass ejections (CMEs)
• Identify the sequence of processes that occur at multiple layers (chromosphere, base and extended corona) which eventually leads to solar eruptive events.
• Magnetic field topology and magnetic field measurements in the solar corona)
• Drivers for space weather (origin, composition and dynamics of solar wind)

Aditya L1 Mission Budget

The budget of Aditya L1 is expected to be Rs 400 crore according to Hindustan Times and The Quint.

Sun missions by other countries

Nasa's "Parker Solar Probe" mission reached 7.8 million km from the Sun's surface in December 2021. This is the closest any human spacecraft has gotten to the Sun so far.

The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter was also launched in 2022.