The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) expects its Aditya-L1 solar probe to enter into orbit around Lagrangian point L1 on January 7, the chairman of the space agency, S. Somanath, said in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.
Mr. Somanath, who was here for the 60th-anniversary celebrations of the first rocket launch from Thumba, said the Aditya-L1 mission is now in the final phase of its long journey to L1 point. “The current date for entering into orbit around L1 is January 7,” he said.
One of the five Lagrange points or ‘equilibrium points’ in the Sun-Earth system, L1 is about 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth between the planet and the Sun. ISRO plans to place in a halo orbit at this vantage point in space to carry out studies with its seven scientific payloads.
ISRO had launched the Aditya-L1 mission aboard the PSLV-C57 on September 2.
First G-X mission likely in the first half of 2024
ISRO expects to launch the the G-X unmanned orbital demonstration flight ahead of the Gaganyaan manned mission in the first half of 2024. The mission is likely to have on board ‘Vyommitra’, the humanoid designed and developed by the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU), Mr. Somanath said.
The cryogenic stage for the LVM3 launch vehicle which will be used for the mission will be ready before December this year.
The space agency also hopes to have the first flight of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) realised end-to-end by the industry in October 2024. The HAL-L&T consortium, which has bagged the contract, is in the “process of building” the rocket, Mr. Somanath said.
