Aditya-L1 mission: After conquering the moon, Isro its sets eyes on the sun

A day after Chandrayaan-3 created history after successfully landing on the south pole of the moon, the Indian space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), has revealed the next pathbreaking mission – to launch the Aditya-L1 solar observatory into space. 

This Aditya-L1 mission, dubbed as India’s first space-based solar observatory, aims to study the Sun, and will be launched by Isro’s PSLV rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR) in Sriharikota on September 2.

Director of Space Applications Centre-Isro, Nilesh M Desai, said that the Aditya-L1 mission is ready and waiting.

The Aditya-L1 will be placed in a highly elliptical orbit, around the Lagrange point 1 of the Sun-Earth system, where it will conduct close observations of the sun, while monitoring solar activity. The probe will attempt to enhance our understanding of the star that sustains life on Earth. 

According to the Indian Space Agency, the Aditya L-1 mission includes an understanding of chromospheric and coronal heating, physics of the partially ionised plasma, formation of the coronal mass ejections, and flares. 

This mission will also calculate the temperature, velocity and density of the outermost layer and various other layers of the sun. The Aditya L-1 will also gather information about the solar wind and weather of the space. 

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Isro's mission will share more information about the solar atmosphere affected by the sun's activities. 

Aditya L1 spacecraft is India's first space-based solar observatory venture. Isro will dispatch Aditya-L1, which is equipped with a coronagraphy satellite, and this remarkable mission is scheduled to launch to space in the first week of September 2023, according to Isro.

The sun-monitoring spaceprobe is equipped with Visible Emission Line Coronagraphy (VELC), which will help in the sun's imaging and spectroscopy, and understanding of the science powering the sun.

Apart from VELC, the spacecraft is also equipped with six other instruments for conducting various kinds of observations of the sun’s surface. According to Isro’s website, “Using the special vantage point L1, four payloads directly view the Sun and the remaining three payloads carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields at the Lagrange point L1, thus providing important scientific studies of the propagatory effect of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium.”

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The website states that the suits of Aditya L1 payloads are expected to provide crucial information to understand the problem of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare and flare activities and their characteristics, dynamics of space weather, propagation of particles and fields, etc.

The L1 point of the Earth-Sun system will give the probe an uninterrupted view of the sun and it is home to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite SOHO from Nasa. The position will continuously give a significant advantage of observing solar activities.