[UPDATE] India Successfully Launches Aditya-L1 Spacecraft Towards the Sun

India has achieved another milestone in its space exploration endeavors after its spacecraft, called Aditya-L1, successfully lifted off toward the sun.

According to TechCrunch, this achievement comes only 10 days after the historic landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the moon's south pole.

The Aditya-L1 Spacecraft of India

The Aditya-L1 spacecraft, boasting a weight of over 3,264 pounds, embarked on its journey from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, South India. The launch was executed using the 44.4-meter tall polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-XL) precisely at 11:50 a.m. local time on a Saturday.

For the next 125 days, equivalent to a little over four months, Aditya-L1 will cover a staggering distance of 932,000 miles to reach its intended destination - an orbit around one of the five Lagrangian points situated between the sun and Earth.

This position allows the spacecraft to continuously monitor solar activities without any interruptions due to occultation or eclipse. India's premier space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), has equipped the Aditya-L1 with seven payloads, including four for remote sensing and three for on-site experiments.

Roughly one hour after liftoff, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) maneuvered the Aditya-L1 spacecraft into an elliptical orbit measuring 146x12,117 miles. Notably, this mission marked the inaugural use of two burn sequences by the launch vehicle's upper stage to precisely align the spacecraft within its intended orbital path.

ISRO's Chairman S. Somanath commended the PSLV's unique mission approach and expressed his congratulations for successfully placing the Aditya-L1 in its intended orbit. He also wished the Aditya spacecraft well on its forthcoming journey as it heads towards its halo orbit at L1.

Aditya, which translates to "sun" in Hindi, will be strategically positioned in a halo orbit approximately 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) away from Earth. This specific orbit grants the spacecraft an uninterrupted view of the sun, permitting it to observe solar activities and their real-time impact on space weather.

Aditya's Seven Payloads

To achieve its scientific objectives, Aditya-L1 carries seven distinct payloads engineered to analyze various facets of the sun's outermost layers, including the photosphere and chromosphere.

These payloads encompass electromagnetic and particle field detectors that promise to contribute to a more profound comprehension of solar dynamics. Notably, the mission's primary focus revolves around investigating the drivers behind space weather phenomena, shedding light on solar wind dynamics and related effects.

While esteemed space organizations such as NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have previously dispatched orbiters to explore the Sun, India's Aditya-L1 mission stands out as the nation's maiden dedicated solar observation mission.

This ambitious endeavor follows closely on the heels of India's recent achievement in the realm of space exploration - the triumphant landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon's surface, marking India's entry into the exclusive group of nations that have achieved soft landings on the moon, alongside the United States, Russia, and China.