Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its inaugural solar mission, Aditya-L1, on Saturday. In India's inaugural foray into space-based solar studies, the European Space Agency (ESA) is lending a crucial hand in significant ways. It is helping the ISRO in two ways -- by offering deep space communication services and aiding ISRO in validating critical new flight dynamics software.
What ESA stated?
The ESA stated that Communication is a key part of every space mission. It is impossible to get any scientific data from a spacecraft without ground station support, and therefore it is difficult to determine its condition, safety, or even location, it added. “ESA's global network of deep space tracking stations and use of internationally recognised technical standards allows us to help our partners track, command, and receive data from their spacecraft almost anywhere in the solar system,” said Ramesh Chellathurai, ESA Service Manager and ESA Cross-Support Liaison Officer for ISRO.
“For the Aditya-L1 mission, we are providing support from all three of our 35-metre deep space antennas in Australia, Spain, and Argentina, as well as support from our Kourou station in French Guiana and coordinated support from goon hilly Earth Station in the UK," Chellathurai further said in a statement.
ESA is main provider of ground station services for Aditya-L1
ESA stated that it also serves as the primary ground station service provider for Aditya-L1. According to the space agency, ESA stations are assisting the mission from start to finish. The support ranges from the critical ‘Launch and Early Orbit Phase’, throughout the journey to L1, and to send commands to and receive science data from Aditya-L1 for multiple hours per day over the next two years of routine operations, it said.
PM Modi hails ISRO
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated ISRO and its scientists on the successful launch of the Aditya-L1. "Our tireless scientific efforts will continue in order to develop better understanding of the universe for the welfare of entire humanity," he wrote on 'X' (formerly known as Twitter).
India's first solar mission
After scripting history on August 23, ISRO on Saturday launched the country's ambitious Solar mission, Aditya-L1. The spacecraft, after travelling 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 should be noted here that Aditya-L1 is the first Indian satellite mission to study the Sun. The spacecraft will travel to its new home – the first Lagrange point (L1) of the Sun-Earth system.
(With inputs from PTI)
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