Key Takeaways
- The Countdown begins for India’s maiden Sun exploratory mission scheduled for Saturday.
- Aditya-L1 will become the first Indian space‑based observatory dedicated to solar research.
- The launch will use the reliable PSLV‑C57 from Sriharikota, marking India’s second inter‑planetary mission in ten days.
Chennai: The 24-hour countdown for India’s space odyssey–maiden PSLV-C57/Aditya-L1 mission tomorrow to explore the Sun–began at the spaceport of Sriharikota, on Friday.
ISRO sources said the countdown began at 1150 hrs at the SHAR Range after the Launch Authorisation Board and the Mission Readiness Committee reviewed the progress of the mission and gave the clearance for the mission.
The Aditya-L1 satellite, which will be the first space based Indian Observatory to study the Sun, will be launched by ISRO’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV-C57 from the Second Launch Pad at 1150 hrs on Saturday.
During the countdown, propellant filling operations will be carried out in the four-stage vehicle.
This will be the second major inter-planetary exploration by India in a short span of ten days, after the Lander Module, onboard the Chandrayaan-3 successfully soft landed on the dark side of the Moon on August 23 and the Rover, deployed from it on the Lunar surface, started conducting in-situ chemical analysis of the region and has been sending images of the Moon, identifying several chemical particles on the region using the instruments in the
rover.
