Aditya-L1 launched: After the success of Chandrayaan-3, ISRO on Saturday launched the country's ambitious Solar mission, Aditya L1. As the 23.40-hour countdown concluded, the 44.4 meter tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) soared majestically at the prefixed time of 11.50 am from this spaceport, located on the Eastern coast about 135 km from Chennai.
According to ISRO, Aditya-L1 is the first space-based observatory to study the Sun. The spacecraft, after traveling about 1.5 million km from the Earth over 125 days, is expected to be placed in a Halo orbit around the Lagrangian point L1 which is considered closest to the Sun. It will be PSLV's "longest flight" for about 63 minutes.
The spacecraft was launched towards the Lagrange L1 point using on-board propulsion so that it exits the earth's gravitational Sphere of Influence and cruises towards the L1. Later, it would be injected into a large Halo Orbit around L1 point near the Sun. The total time from launch to reaching the L1 point would be about four months for the Aditya-L1 Mission, ISRO said.
The Aditya-L1 mission carries seven scientific payloads to carry out the study. The Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) will study the solar corona and dynamics of CME.
WIth PTI inputs
