A day after the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) injected the Aditya-L1 Solar Mission into its designated orbit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the project not replicated the historic success of 'Chandrayaan-2' but also showcased the capability and scope of the country's space research.
Addressing the All India Conference of director generals and inspector generals of police in Jaipur on Sunday, Indian Prime Minister Modi said, "Aditya L-1 has covered 15 lakh kilometres from earth and reached its desired destination, on time. Just like the historic success of the Chandrayaan mission, this (Aditya L-1), too, showcased the capabilities of our space research."
In a major milestone on Saturday, India placed its first dedicated solar mission, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, in the Halo orbit. The country went gaga over this historic achievement, especially since this mission came at the back of India's moon landing, the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Aditya-L1 reached Lagrange Point L1 on Saturday which is about 1.5 million km from earth. The PSLV-C57.1 rocket carrying the Aditya-L1 orbiter lifted off successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, in September.
Hailing the success of the Aditya-L1 mission, PM Modi earlier said India will continue to pursue new frontiers of science for the benefit of humanity.
Aditya-L1 has seven different payloads on board to conduct a detailed study of the sun, four of which will observe the light from the sun and the other three will measure in-situ parameters of the plasma and magnetic fields.
Union Minister of State Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said Aditya L1 will discover the mysteries of sun-earth connection. "From Moon walk to Sun Dance! What a glorious turn of year for Bharat! Under the visionary leadership of PM @narendramodi, yet another success story scripted by Team #ISRO. #AdityaL1 reaches its final orbit to discover the mysteries of Sun-Earth connection," he said in a post on X.
ISRO placed the Aditya-L1 spacecraft into its final destination orbit, ISRO chief S Somanath said that the crucial mission is not just India's alone but for the entire world.
"The solar mission, Aditya-L1 is for the whole world, not for India alone, for all of us to understand and make use of its scientific importance," Somanath told ANI on Saturday.
The successful launch of the maiden solar mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) came on the heels of the historic lunar landing mission -- Chandrayaan-3.
(ANI)