In a historic achievement, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) celebrated the triumphant launch of the Aditya L1 mission on September 2, 2023, precisely at 11:50 AM IST, ascending from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre located in Sriharikota, India. This pioneering endeavor, aptly named after the Hindu Sun deity Aditya, represents India’s inaugural specialized solar mission. Carrying a payload of seven cutting-edge instruments and weighing 1.5 tons, the Aditya L1 spacecraft is primed to delve into the Sun’s enigmatic atmosphere, encompassing the chromosphere, corona, and the intriguing dynamics of the solar wind’s interplay with Earth’s own atmospheric layers.
Navigating a halo orbit ensconced around the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1), positioned at an impressive distance of approximately 1.5 million kilometers from our planet, this mission holds the promise of enriching our scientific understanding for a projected duration of five years. The data gathered during this mission will unveil the intricacies of the Sun’s behavior and its intricate connections with Earth, marking a significant milestone for the Indian space program and aiding in the prediction of space weather events that can exert a profound impact on our world.