The probe was launched on Saturday morning from the Sriharikota space base in Andhra Pradesh on India’s west coast, the space agency Isro said in a live broadcast. It will travel 1.5 million kilometers before settling into orbit around the sun.
The purpose is, among other things, to study plasma eruptions. When the energy from the eruptions reaches Earth, it can disrupt things like satellites, and the hope is that Aditya will be able to help alleviate such problems.
After the successful moon landing
The launch takes place in the aftermath of the celebration of India being the first country to successfully land a probe at the moon’s south pole. The Chandrayaan 3 expedition’s lander Vikram touched down for its lunar research mission on August 23.
For Aditya, a similar “low price scheme” is used as for Chandrayaan. The probe takes a bet by first spinning around the Earth for 16 days. This means that less fuel is needed to then accelerate into space. The technology contributes to India’s space travel being much cheaper than that of other major powers.