“Aditya-L1 is going to reach its L1 point on January 6 and we are going to do the final manoeuvre to keep it there,” the ISRO chief said, on the sidelines of the successful launch of XPoSat mission to study black holes.
Somanath also outlined ISRO’s ambitious plans for the year, saying that it is aiming for a minimum of 12 missions.
Regarding the Gaganyaan mission, Somanath mentioned plans for at least two additional abort missions, one unmanned mission (with a target of two), parachute drop tests, and hundreds of valuation tests before the scheduled launch in 2025. The Gaganyaan project aims to demonstrate human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members into a 400 km orbit for a three-day mission, returning them safely to Earth.
Somanath emphasized that 2024 would be the year for Gaganyaan readiness, including helicopter-based drop tests to validate parachute systems, multiple drop tests, and numerous valuation tests.
In a notable achievement earlier on the first day of 2024, ISRO successfully launched the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat), marking India’s first observation of black holes. Somanath highlighted the satellite’s precise placement into the intended orbit of 650 km, with a 6-degree inclination.It has taken ISRO seven years to build the XPoSat satellite.”We want to create at least 100 scientists who can understand this aspect and contribute to the knowledge of black holes to the world,” he added.
Acknowledging the seven-year effort invested in building XPoSat, Somanath expressed the goal of fostering at least 100 scientists capable of understanding and contributing to the world’s knowledge of black holes.
Reflecting on India’s space achievements in 2023, including the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon’s south pole and the launch of Aditya-L1, Somanath emphasized their impact on India’s standing in the global space economy. These milestones have also energized India’s private space sector.
What is ISRO’s Aditya-L1 mission?
Aditya-L1 is India’s first solar mission of observatory-class, which is designed for study of the sun. The spacecraft will be positioned in a halo orbit around the Lagrangian point1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is approximately 1.5 million km from earth, for ensuring continuous, unobstructed solar observation. The spacecraft is carrying seven payloads for scrutinizing the photosphere, chromosphere, and the Sun’s outer layers (corona) through electromagnetic and particle detectors. Positioned at L1, four payloads will observe the Sun directly, while the other three conduct studies of particles and fields. Aditya L1’s suite aims to yield vital insights into coronal heating, Coronal Mass Ejection, flare activities, space weather dynamics, particle propagation, and interplanetary medium characteristics.