India's solar observation mission achieved a significant milestone on Saturday by entering the sun's orbit after a four-month journey, marking another triumph for the ambitious space exploration endeavours of the world's most populous nation.
Launched in September, the Aditya-L1 mission is equipped with various instruments designed to measure and observe the sun's outermost layers. Jitendra Singh, India's science and technology minister, shared on social media that the probe has successfully reached its final orbit, aiming to unravel the mysteries of the Sun-Earth connection.
While the United States and the European Space Agency have previously dispatched probes to the solar system's center, India's recent achievement distinguishes itself as the first solar observation mission by any Asian nation to be placed in orbit around the Sun.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the accomplishment as another "landmark" in the country's space programme, emphasising the relentless dedication of Indian scientists. Modi expressed his commitment to continue exploring new frontiers of science for the benefit of humanity.
Named after a Hindu Sun deity, Aditya has covered 1.5 million kilometres (932,000 miles) from Earth, representing just one percent of the distance between our home planet and the Sun. The orbiter, costing approximately $48 million, has reached a stable halo orbit around the Sun, where gravitational forces from both celestial bodies cancel out.
Aditya's primary focus is to study coronal mass ejections, powerful discharges of plasma and magnetic energy from the sun's atmosphere that can potentially impact Earth's satellites. The mission also aims to enhance understanding of various solar phenomena by imaging and measuring particles in the sun's upper atmosphere.
India's space programme, characterised by a relatively modest budget, has gained substantial momentum since its first lunar orbit in 2008. In recent years, India has achieved notable milestones, including a successful mission to the Moon's south pole in 2019 and becoming the first Asian nation to orbit Mars in 2014. Future plans include a crewed mission into Earth's orbit, a joint lunar mission with Japan, and an orbital mission to Venus within the next two years.
