India’s maiden solar mission, ‘Aditya-L1’, likely to be launched on Sept 2: ISRO

BENGALURU: Shifting focus to its next space odyssey after successfully placing a lander on the moon’s uncharted South Pole, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday said the country’s maiden solar mission ‘Aditya-L1’ will “possibly” be launched on September 2.

Aditya-L1 would be the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun.

Speaking to ANI barely minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to scientists at the ISRO’s Bengaluru headquarters, Nilesh M Desai, a top space scientist at the agency and the director of Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, said, “We had planned the ‘Aditya-L1’ mission to study the sun. The mission is ready for launch. There is a possibility that the spacecraft will be launched on September 2.” He said PM Modi’s address to the scientists at ISRO’s Bengaluru command centre was ‘motivating’.

“PM Modi’s speech was hugely motivating. His announcements will inspire us to plan and execute similar missions going forward. His announcements have filled us with motivation and new zeal to rededicate ourselves to working for the country in the space domain,” Desai told ANI.

Sudheer Kumar N, director, Capacity Building & Public Outreach (CBPO), ISRO told ANI, “I don’t have enough words to express what I felt about PM Modi’s address here. I can’t thank him enough for visiting us here just after landing in India. He said he couldn’t stop himself from visiting us. This was more than what we could expect. His announcements were not only meant to celebrate the success of our lunar landing mission but also to enable future generations to remember the day and the achievement.” Earlier, speaking to ANI, ISRO chairman S Somanth said the country’s maiden mission to study the sun will be ready for launch in the first week of September.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced that August 23 will be celebrated as ‘National Space Day’ to mark Chandrayaan-3‘s landing on the moon.

He announced that the spot where the ‘Vikram’ lander touched down on the lunar surface would henceforth be known as the ‘Shivshakti’ point while the imprint left by the Chandrayaan-2 on the lunar surface will be called the ‘Tiranga point’.

Earlier, on Saturday, PM Modi was accorded a warm reception as he arrived at the ISRO headquarters.

He met the team of scientists involved in the country’s third lunar mission and was pictured embracing ISRO chief S Somanath.

Locals, holding up posters and the tricolour had lined the streets outside the airport to welcome PM Modi.

Upon landing at the HAL airport in Bengaluru, he waved at the cheering locals and raised the slogan “Jai Vigyan Jai Anusandhan (Glory to Science, Glory to Research)”.