Article Posted on : - Sep 01, 2023

ISRO's PSLV-C57 carrying 'Aditya-L1' spacecraft sits at the launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota, on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. The launch is scheduled at 11:50 IST Saturday. (A PTI Photo)

SRIHARIKOTA, ANDHRA PRADESH (PTI): The countdown for the launch of India's maiden solar mission, Aditya L1 onboard the PSLV, commenced at Sriharikota on Friday, ISRO said.

The Sun observatory mission is all set to be launched from this spaceport at 11.50 am on Saturday, and comes close on the heels of India's successful moon expedition, Chandrayaan-3.

"PSLV-C57/Aditya-L1 Mission: The countdown leading to the launch at 11:50 Hrs. IST on Septermber 2, 2023," has started, ISRO said in an update on X, formerly Twitter.

The 23-hour 40-minute countdown commenced at 12:10 pm, it added.

ISRO Chairman S Somanath had earlier said the mission will take 125 days to reach the exact radius.

Aditya-L1 is designed for providing remote observations of the solar corona and in situ observations of the solar wind at L1 (Sun-Earth Lagrangian point), which is about 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth.

It will be the first dedicated Indian space mission for observations of the Sun to be launched by the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency.