The Aditya-L1 mission is a five-year mission by India’s space agency, ISRO, to study the Sun. The mission aims to:
- Understand how solar winds, flares, and storms develop and evolve
- Understand the Sun’s corona’s high temperature and its impact on space weather
- Study the structure and dynamics of the corona, and to understand the mechanisms that heat it up
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft is equipped with seven instruments. It will observe the Sun from a distance and measure high-energy particles emitted as it travels. The spacecraft will stay approximately 1.5 million km away from Earth, directed towards the Sun. It will neither land on the Sun nor approach the Sun any closer.
The Aditya-L1 mission will help researchers understand how natural phenomena that occur within the Sun’s atmosphere impact Earth and other planets like Mars and Mercury. It will also improve our understanding of solar events for better prediction and preparedness.
The spacecraft, launched on November 2, 2023, is expected to reach its target position in the second week of January. Once in position at the L1 point, Aditya-L1 will continuously observe the Sun without interruptions, offering unprecedented insights into our host star’s dynamics, PTI reported
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft is expected to reach the L1 point by January 2024. The spacecraft began its journey to L1 on September 18, 2023. On September 19, 2023, it performed its last maneuver around Earth to escape its orbit and head towards the Lagrange 1 point.
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft will operate in a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L1 point, which is located approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. The spacecraft will be located 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, and about 148.5 million kilometers from the Sun.
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft’s trajectory towards the Sun will be complex and will involve several phases. Initially, the spacecraft will be placed in a Low Earth Orbit. Subsequently, the orbit will be made more elliptical.
The Aditya-L1 mission is India’s first solar mission. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the Aditya-L1 satellite on September 2, 2023 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The mission is aimed at studying the Sun from an orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrangian point 1 (L1), which is about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.
The Aditya-L1 mission has seven instruments. It began collecting data by deploying one of the seven instruments on board on Monday, a day before its departure from the Earth orbit.
The Aditya-L1 and Parker Solar Probe missions both study the Sun’s corona. However, there are some differences between the two missions:
- Distance from the Sun The Aditya-L1 spacecraft will be about 148.5 million kilometers from the Sun. The Parker Solar Probe will come within about 3.9 million miles of the Sun at its closest approach.
- Launch date The Aditya-L1 spacecraft was launched on September 2, 2023. The Parker Solar Probe was launched on August 12, 2018.
- Manufacturer The Aditya-L1 spacecraft was manufactured by the Indian Space Research Organisation. The Parker Solar Probe was manufactured by Applied Physics Laboratory.
- Speed The maximum speed of the Parker Solar Probe is 6,92,000 km/h.
- Mission The Aditya-L1 spacecraft will continuously monitor the Sun from a distance. The Parker Solar Probe will make close encounters with the Sun.
The Aditya-L1 mission was originally named Aditya-1. The name Aditya means “the Sun” in Sanskrit, and L1 refers to Lagrange Point 1 of the Sun-Earth system. L1 is a location in space where the gravitational forces of two celestial bodies, such as the Sun and Earth, are in equilibrium.
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft was launched on September 2, 2023. It was launched aboard the PSLV C57 at 11:50 IST. The spacecraft will be placed at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, and 148.5 million kilometers from the Sun.
The estimated cost of the Aditya-L1 solar mission is around Rs.400 crore, which includes the cost of the spacecraft, launch vehicle, ground infrastructure, and other associated costs. However, ISRO has not officially released the budget for the mission.
Reports in the Indian press put the cost at 3.78bn rupees ($46m; £36m). The India Times and the Hindustan Times say the budget for the mission is about 400 Crore (around US$50 million).
The next two lunar missions, Chandrayaan-2 and the recent Chandrayaan-3, were carried out with a cost of Rs. 978 crore and Rs. 600 crore respectively. ( source google)
The Aditya-L1 is a satellite. It’s a cube-shaped satellite with a honeycomb sandwich structure. Its main body has dimensions of 2.9 feet x 2.9 feet x 2 feet (89 centimeters x 89 cm x 61.5 cm). It has a launch mass of 3,252 pounds (1,475 kilograms).
The Aditya-L1 was carried into space by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in ‘XL’ configuration. PSLV is one of the most reliable and versatile workhorse rockets of ISRO. Previous missions like Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mangalyaan in 2013 were also launched using PSLV.
The Aditya-L1 mission is significant because it will help scientists better understand solar activity, including the dynamics of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Flares are powerful flashes of high-energy radiation, and CMEs are huge eruptions of solar plasma. Both types of outburst can affect us here on Earth.
The Aditya-L1 mission will also study the Sun’s corona, chromosphere, and photosphere. It will also study the particle flux emanating from the Sun, and the variation of magnetic field strength.
The Aditya-L1 mission is India’s first dedicated scientific mission to study the sun. It is also ISRO’s second astronomy observatory-class mission after AstroSat (2015).
Lagrange points are regions in space where the gravitational forces of two large masses create enhanced zones of attraction and repulsion. These points are useful for space exploration because they offer low-energy orbits and uninterrupted views of certain regions of space.
For the Aditya-L1 mission, the L1 Lagrange point is a strategic placement that ensures the satellite can maintain a constant, uninterrupted view of the Sun. The L1 point is 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, and being closer to Earth makes communication and manoeuvrability of the spacecraft easier.
Other applications of Lagrange points include:
- Optimizing fuel utilization required to maintain spacecraft positions
- Offering the best “parking spots” in space for satellites
- Making it ideal for controllers on the ground to communicate with spacecraft stationed there
- Offering low-energy orbits
Universe discoveries 