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India’s First Solar Mission Aditya L1 Set to Launch on September 2

Aditya L1

India is ready to launch its first mission to study the Sun, Aditya L1, on September 2 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The mission aims to improve our understanding of the Sun’s dynamics and space weather, which can affect communication, navigation and power systems on Earth.

Aditya L1 is a spacecraft that will be placed in a halo orbit around the first Lagrange (L1) point of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from Earth. This orbit will allow the spacecraft to have a continuous view of the Sun without any interference from the Earth or the Moon.

The spacecraft carries seven payloads (instruments) that will observe the photosphere, chromosphere and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic and particle and magnetic field detectors. The payloads are:

Aditya L1 is expected to have a mission life of five years. The mission will provide valuable data for solar physics research and space weather forecasting. It will also contribute to international efforts to understand the Sun and its impact on our planet.

Aditya L1 was planned in 2008 but faced several delays due to technical challenges and budget constraints. The mission was originally conceived as a small satellite with only one payload (VELC), but later expanded to include six more payloads. The mission cost is estimated at Rs 378 crore.

Aditya L1 is India’s second major space science mission after Chandrayaan-3, which successfully landed on the Moon in January 2023. India has also announced plans to launch missions to Venus, Mars and asteroids in the future.

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