Last updated: June 28, 2023, 8:35 PM IST
ISRO is preparing major mission launches in the coming months
The mission will be tasked with studying the sun and will likely become ISRO’s focus after the Chandrayaan 3 mission takes off.
ISRO has a busy few weeks ahead as it gears up for multiple missions, including the Chandrayaan III lunar mission likely to launch sometime next month. But the space agency has another major focus with its first-ever mission to the sun in the form of the Aditya L1 Mission, which S Somanath, ISRO Chief, says will be ready by the end of August.
Speaking to media on the sidelines of an event, Somanath was questioned about the status of the Aditya L1 mission and when the launch is expected. “Satellites are now being integrated and payloads developed by various agencies have reached the satellite center,” he told ANI in a report. “It will go through a series of tests, like vibration and so many things,” he adds.
He also talks about the launch vehicle for the mission to the sun and reiterates the heavy burden that the space agency will carry in the coming weeks. “The payloads from the mission will go to a PSLV, but we have another launch planned, so our target for the Aditya L1 mission is the end of August,” Somanath said in the video.
Aditya-L1 is India’s first science mission to study the sun, and it was previously confirmed to launch in June or July. But with Chandrayaan III coming into the mix, ISRO seems to have pushed the launch timeline back to August, giving the agency more time for its testing and other input.
This mission has been confirmed to carry seven payloads that will observe the photosphere, the chromosphere and the outer layers of the sun (the corona).
The satellite’s scientific studies will advance our current understanding of the solar corona and also provide essential data for space weather studies,” ISRO officials said earlier this year.
