Aditya-L1
Aditya L1.jpg
Aditya-L1 in launch configuration
Mission typeSolar observation
OperatorISRO
Mission duration5 years (planned)[1]
Spacecraft properties
BusI-1K[citation needed]
ManufacturerISRO / IUCAA / IIA
Launch mass1,475 kg (3,252 lb) [2]
Payload mass244 kg (538 lb) [1]
Start of mission
Launch dateJune/July 2023 (planned)
RocketPSLV-XL (PSLV-C56) [3][1]
Launch siteSatish Dhawan Space Centre
ContractorIndian Space Research Organisation
Orbital parameters
Reference systemSun–Earth L1
RegimeHalo orbit
Period177.86 days [4]
 

Aditya L1 (Sanskrit: आदित्य, lit: Sun,[5] pronunciation (help·info)) is a planned coronagraphy spacecraft to study solar atmosphere, currently being designed and developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and various other Indian research institutes.[1] It will be inserted in a halo orbit around the L1 point between the Earth and the Sun where it will study the solar atmosphere, solar magnetic storms and its impact on environment around Earth.

Key scientific objectives are coronal heating, solar wind acceleration, coronal magnetometry, origin and monitoring of near-UV solar radiation and the continuous observation of photosphere, chromosphere and corona, solar energetic particles and magnetic field of the Sun.

It is the first Indian mission dedicated to observe the Sun, and is planned to be launched in June-July 2023 aboard a PSLV-XL launch vehicle.[3][6][7][8]

History

Aditya was conceptualised in January 2008 by the Advisory Committee for Space Research. It was initially envisaged as a small 400 kg (880 lb), LEO(800 km) satellite with a coronagraph to study the solar corona. An experimental budget of 3 Crore INR was allocated for the financial year 2016–2017.[9][10][11] The scope of the mission has since been expanded and it is now planned to be a comprehensive solar and space environment observatory to be placed at the Lagrange point L1,[12] so the mission was renamed "Aditya-L1". As of July 2019, the mission has an allocated cost of ₹378.53 crore excluding launch costs.[13]

Aditya L1 in deployed configuration
Aditya L1 in deployed configuration

Overview

Lagrange points in the Sun–Earth system (not to scale) – a small object at any one of the five points will hold its relative position.
Lagrange points in the Sun–Earth system (not to scale) – a small object at any one of the five points will hold its relative position.

The Aditya-L1 mission will take around 109 Earth days after launch[14] to reach the halo orbit around the L1 point, which is about 1,500,000 km (930,000 mi) from Earth. The 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) satellite carries seven science payloads with diverse objectives, including but not limited to, the coronal heating, solar wind acceleration, coronal magnetometry, origin and monitoring of near-UV solar radiation (which drives Earth's upper atmospheric dynamics and global climate), coupling of the solar photosphere to chromosphere and corona, in-situ characterisations of the space environment around Earth by measuring energetic particle fluxes and magnetic fields of the solar wind and solar magnetic storms that have adverse effects on space and ground-based technologies.[1]

Aditya-L1 will be able to provide observations of Sun's photosphere, chromosphere and corona. In addition, an instrument will study the solar energetic particles' flux reaching the L1 orbit, while a magnetometer payload will measure the variation in magnetic field strength at the halo orbit around L1. These payloads have to be placed outside the interference from the Earth's magnetic field and hence could not have been useful in the low Earth orbit as proposed on the original Aditya mission concept.[15]

One of the major unsolved issues in the field of solar physics is that the upper atmosphere of the Sun is 1,000,000 K (1,000,000 °C; 1,800,000 °F) hot whereas the lower atmosphere is just 6,000 K (5,730 °C; 10,340 °F). In addition, it is not understood how exactly the Sun's radiation affects the dynamics of the Earth's atmosphere on shorter as well as on longer time scale. The mission will obtain near simultaneous images of the different layers of the Sun's atmosphere, which reveal the ways in which the energy may be channeled and transferred from one layer to another. Thus the Aditya-L1 mission will enable a comprehensive understanding of the dynamical processes of the Sun and address some of the outstanding problems in solar physics and heliophysics.

Payloads

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Somasundaram, Seetha; Megala, S. (25 August 2017). "Aditya-L1 mission" (PDF). Current Science. 113 (4): 610. Bibcode:2017CSci..113..610S. doi:10.18520/cs/v113/i04/610-612. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  2. ^ International Space Conference and Exhibition - DAY 3 (video). Confederation of Indian Industry. 15 September 2021. Event occurs at 2:07:36–2:08:38. Retrieved 18 September 2021 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ a b "Questions in the Lok Sabha (AU2587)" (PDF). Lok Sabha. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  4. ^ Sreekumar, P. (19 June 2019). "Indian Space Science & Exploration : Global Perspective" (PDF). UNOOSA. p. 8. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Aditya". Spoken Sanskrit. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
  6. ^ Tripathi, Durgesh (17 May 2022). It’s Hot, It’s Magnetic & It’s Dynamic & It Matters: the Solar Atmosphere & SolarWind (Video). Event occurs at 46 minutes 43 seconds.
  7. ^ "India's first mission to study the Sun will be launched by June-July: ISRO chairman". The Hindu. 26 January 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  8. ^ Bureau, The Hindu (26 January 2023). "India's first mission to study the Sun will be launched by June-July: ISRO chairman". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Notes on Demands for Grants, 2016-2017" (PDF) (Press release). Department of Space. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Aditya gets ready to gaze at the sun". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  11. ^ Gandhi, Divya (13 January 2008). "ISRO planning to launch satellite to study the sun". The Hindu. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  12. ^ Desikan, Shubashree (15 November 2015). "The sun shines on India's Aditya". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.1972" (PDF). Lok Sabha. 3 July 2019.
  14. ^ "Department Of Space, Annual Report 2019-2020" (PDF). 14 February 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  15. ^ "Aditya-L1 First Indian mission to study the Sun". isro.gov.in. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  16. ^ a b Desikan, Shubashree (26 November 2017). "Here comes the sun watcher, India's Aditya-L1". The Hindu. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  17. ^ Goyal, S. K. (18 April 2018). "Aditya Solarwind Particle EXperiment (ASPEX) onboard the Aditya-L1 mission". Planetary and Space Science. 163: 42–55. Bibcode:2018P&SS..163...42G. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2018.04.008. S2CID 125867275. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  18. ^ Yadav, Vipin K. (8 November 2017). "Science objectives of the magnetic field experiment onboard Aditya-L1 spacecraft". Advances in Space Research. 61 (2): 749–758. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2017.11.008. Retrieved 18 May 2020.

External links

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