In the wake of its triumphant moon mission, India is embarking on a new endeavor—studying the sun.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has announced the upcoming launch of the Aditya-L1 spacecraft on September 2nd. The mission’s goal is to comprehensively explore the sun and its influence on space weather.
Named after the Hindi term for the sun, Aditya will be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrangian point 1 of the Sun-Earth system. This strategic position allows unobstructed observation of the sun and is characterized by minimal gravitational interference. In simpler terms, it’s an optimal location for studying our star, likened to a “parking spot” in space.
This mission will mark India’s inaugural space-based solar observatory, offering a continuous view of the sun devoid of any occultation or eclipses, as noted in the ISRO report.
In addition to monitoring the sun, the mission aims to investigate solar wind—an outflow of charged particles from the sun’s corona. These particles can potentially disrupt Earth’s communication and navigation systems.
The Indian government had earmarked a budget of $46 million for this mission in 2019, but no further updates have been released.
This achievement comes on the heels of India’s recent successful moon landing, accomplished with a relatively modest budget of $75 million. While India is venturing into solar research for the first time, other nations like NASA and the European Space Agency have already deployed spacecraft to study the sun’s mysteries.
