Following the successful lunar landing, the Indian Space Research Organisation is ready to embark on its Aditya-L1 solar research mission, scheduled for launch at 11.50 am on Saturday from Sriharikota\’s second launch pad.
This 1,480 kg spacecraft will be ferried into orbit by India\’s reliable Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and positioned in a highly elliptical orbit, ranging from 235 km to 19,500 km above Earth\’s surface. The PSLV, configured in its XL variant equipped with six solid fuel-based boosters, will accomplish this orbital deployment in just over an hour.
Subsequently, the spacecraft\’s orbital parameters and velocity will be incrementally adjusted to propel it toward the Sun. Covering a distance of 1.5 million km to reach the L1 point will span approximately four months (125 days). Upon arrival, the spacecraft will be inserted into a halo orbit encircling the L1 point, where its seven scientific experiments will continue gathering data for the ensuing five years.
The countdown, extending over 23 hours and 40 minutes, initiated shortly after noon on Friday. It\’s worth noting that the spacecraft\’s journey accounts for merely 1% of the colossal 150 million km distance to the Sun. The Indian Space Research Organisation has clarified that \”The Sun is a massive sphere of gas, and Aditya-L1 will investigate the Sun\’s outer atmosphere. Aditya-L1 will neither land on the Sun nor approach it any closer,\” as emphasized on Friday.
