Aditya L1 mission: Unlocking Sun's enigmas begins

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) launched its first-ever solar mission, Aditya-L1, on September 2. The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

The mission aims to study the Sun's corona and its impact on Earth's atmosphere. The Aditya-L1 spacecraft will carry seven payloads, four of which will observe the Sun's light, while the remaining three will measure insitu parameters of the plasma and magnetic fields. After the launch, the spacecraft is expected to travel 1.5 million km away from Earth and position itself in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system.

The mission, which has been delayed several times due to technical reasons and the COVID-19 pandemic, is a significant step forward for India's space program.