India's Aditya-L1 Solar Mission Enters Sun's Orbit, Marking Historic Milestone
India’s Aditya-L1 mission, a significant venture into solar observation, has completed its four-month journey, now positioned in the sun’s orbit, marking a milestone for the country’s space endeavors.
Ritu Kataria 
New Delhi : India’s Aditya-L1 mission, a significant venture into solar observation, has completed its four-month journey, now positioned in the sun’s orbit, marking a milestone for the country’s space endeavors. Launched in September, the mission carries an array of instruments to study the sun’s outer layers, aiming to unravel the enigmatic sun-Earth connection.
Jitendra Singh, India’s science and technology minister, announced the probe’s arrival in its final orbit, emphasizing its purpose to uncover the mysteries surrounding the sun’s relationship with Earth. While other space agencies, like the US, Europe, Japan, and China, have launched solar observation missions, India’s accomplishment stands out as the first in Asia to establish an orbit around the sun.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised this achievement as a testament to the relentless dedication of Indian scientists and a significant step in advancing the nation’s space program. The Aditya mission, named after the Hindu sun deity, has covered a fraction of the vast distance between Earth and the sun, residing in a stable halo orbit where gravitational forces balance.
Costing approximately $48 million, the orbiter is set to investigate coronal mass ejections—periodic eruptions of plasma and magnetic energy from the sun's atmosphere—which can disrupt satellite operations when they reach Earth. Additionally, the mission aims to unravel various solar phenomena by capturing images and analyzing particles in the sun's upper atmosphere.
India, with a comparably modest space budget, has made strides since its 2008 lunar orbiter. The country not only became the first to land an uncrewed craft near the lunar south pole but also joined the select few to successfully land on the moon. Building on this momentum, India eyes a crewed mission into Earth’s orbit soon, along with joint missions with Japan for lunar exploration by 2025 and a forthcoming orbital venture to Venus within the next couple of years.
