Bengaluru: The polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C57) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) succesfully placed the Aditya-L1 spacecraft in its designated orbit of the earth for outward journey after its launch from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota on Saturday.
With this, India inched one step closer for the completion of its maiden Solar expedition. The ISRO‘s mission—Aditya-L1—is set to take 125-day day to reach the Lagrangian point 1, which is 15 lakh kilometre from Earth towards the Sun. The Aditya L1 spacecraft will stay in Earth’s orbit for sixteen days, after which it will eject from the Earth’s orbit to enter the halo orbit around the Sun.
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The launch took place at 11:50 am from SDSC in Sriharikota today after 23.10 hour countdown for the launch of Aditya L1 onboard PSLV C57 commenced on Friday, ISRO said.
Aditya-L1 is designed to provide remote observations of the Solar corona and conduct in-
situ observations of the Solar wind at L1 (Sun-Earth Lagrangian point), which is about 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. ISRO officials said that the Aditya-L1, which has been separated from the PSLV rocket, has begun generating power from the solar panels that have been unfolded. The first Earth bound firing to raise the orbit of the spacecraft is scheduled for September 3 at 11.45 hrs. “Every system of the spacecraft is working precisely as planned,” said a scientist associated with the mission.
ISRO chairman S Somanath also said that it’s a very long journey of 125 days. “I congratulate PSLV for such a very different mission approach to do the Aditya-L1 mission. From now, the mission will start its journey from the L1 point. It’s a very long journey of almost 125 days. Let us wish all the best to Aditya spacecraft.”
Congratulatory messages pour in
Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended greetings to the team ISRO and engineers, who were involved in the successful launch of the Aditya-L1 mission. In a post on X, PM Modi said, “After the success of Chandrayaan-3, India continues its space journey. Congratulations to our scientists and engineers at @isro for the successful launch of India’s first Solar Mission, Aditya-L1.”
Union home minister Amit Shah also congratulated ISRO scientists for the successful launch of India’s Solar mission. “I extend heartiest congratulations to everyone on the launch of mission Aditya,” Shah said at a public event in Raipur.
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Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge congratulated the ISRO scientists for achieving “triumphs that would keep inspiring our younger generation”. “We are indebted and grateful to our scientists, space engineers, researchers and our hard-working personnel at Isro for the successful launch of the Aditya L1 Solar Observation Mission. Together, we celebrate their success and honour them with our gratitude,” Kharge wrote on X.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “This historic achievement marks another giant leap in space exploration.” He further said, “This Mission carries the hopes of billions and I pray for its triumph.”
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“Phenomenal! After the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission, today our great scientists of ISRO have successfully launched Aditya-L1 to study the Sun,” wrote Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, wishing best to all the scientists of ISRO and their families along with the country.
