Following the success of Chandrayaan-3’s moon landing, India’s space agency is preparing for its next venture – an exploration of the sun. The Aditya-L1, India’s maiden solar research space observatory, is gearing up for launch from the country’s primary spaceport in Sriharikota. This announcement was made by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at its satellite command center while celebrating the recent triumph of the moon mission.
According to ISRO Chairman S. Somanath, the launch is slated for the first week of September. The Aditya-L1 mission seeks to study solar winds, a phenomenon capable of causing disturbances on Earth and often manifesting as “auroras.” Beyond immediate observations, the gathered data could contribute to a better understanding of the sun’s influence on Earth’s climate patterns.
The spacecraft, named after the Hindi term for the sun, will be India’s inaugural spaceborne solar probe. It will embark on a journey of around 1.5 million km over approximately four months to explore the sun’s atmosphere. To conserve fuel, the spacecraft will position itself at one of the Lagrange Points, regions in space where gravitational forces are balanced, allowing objects to maintain stable positions.
The budget for the Aditya-L1 mission was authorized at about $46 million in 2019 by the Indian government. While there hasn’t been an official cost update from ISRO, the organization is known for its cost-effective approach to space engineering, which has bolstered India’s privatized space industry.
For context, the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which successfully landed a spacecraft on the lunar south pole, had an allocated budget of around $75 million.
