Aditya-L1: India successfully launches first spacecraft to Sun – follow live updates

India has launched its first mission to the Sun this morning, just days after becoming the first country in history to achieve a soft landing of a spacecraft on the Moon’s uncharted south pole.

The Aditya-L1 spacecraft is an unmanned observation satellite that India’s space agency (Isro) wants to use to monitor the Sun’s activities, and learn more about how these impact space weather phenomena such as solar storms.

The launch took place at 11.50am local time (7.20am BST) on Saturday morning at the same space centre in Sriharikota in southern India where the country’s historic Chandrayaan-3 moon mission was launched.

Isro says it will take Aditya – which means Sun in Hindi – around four months to reach its final position in a halo orbit around the Sun. It will first enter Low Earth Orbit before taking a more elliptical path and finally use onboard propulsion to push out into a region around the Sun known as the Lagrange Point 1 (L1).

L1 is located around 1.5 million km away from Earth and will allow Aditya a continuous and unobstructed view of the Sun.

Key Points

• India’s Sun mission Aditya L1 launched

• Why is India sending a spacecraft to the Sun?

• Where can you watch India's Sun mission Aditya L1 launch?

• India's solar mission can make 'big bang in terms of science', says expert

'Thank you PM Modi for making this happen,' India's minister for science and technology says after successful launch of Sun mission

11:21 , Stuti Mishra

Dr Jitendra Singh, India’s minister of state for science and technology, addressed the crowd of Isro scientists after the successful launch of the Aditya-L1 mission by thanking prime minister Narendra Modi, who he credited for “opening up new vistas for India’s new space sector”.

“Thank you, PM Modi for making this happen by opening up new vistas for India’s new space sector and telling us that sky is not the limit,” Mr Singh said.

India has in recent years privatised space launches and is looking to open the sector to foreign investment as it targets a five-fold increase in its share of the global launch market within the next decade.

India landed on the Moon for less than it cost to make Interstellar

10:22 , Stuti Mishra

India’s historic sun mission came just a few weeks after its successful moon landing – for less than the cost of the film Interstellar.

Here’s all you need to know about it:

Final separation of India's Sun mission complete

09:45 , Stuti Mishra

The final stage separation of the PSLV C-57 rocket was completed successfully 63 minutes after launch, with mission control declaring: "Mission accomplished."

This was one of the longest PSLV missions ever undertaken.

"The vehicle has placed the satellite precisely into its intended orbit," Isro wrote on X.

"India’s first solar observatory has begun its journey to the destination of Sun-Earth L1 point."

Video: India launches its first space-based observatory

09:20 , Stuti Mishra

Video: Crowd chants 'Long live mother India' as Aditya-L1 spacecraft takes off

09:00 , Stuti Mishra

Indian ministers laud successful launch of Sun mission

08:40 , Stuti Mishra

As the rocket left the surface of the Earth, leaving a trail of smoke, cabinet ministers lauded India's successful launch of Aditya-L1 solar mission on Twitter.

"A historic achievement in the pursuit of scientific knowledge!" wrote India's transport minister Nitin Gadkari.

"Kudos to the brilliant minds at ISRO who have made this mission possible. Your dedication and expertise continue to inspire us all. Here's to a bright future of solar exploration and groundbreaking discoveries!"

"History being scripted," wrote environment minister Bhupendra Yadav.

'An unforgettable moment': People gathered to watch India's first Sun mission launch share feelings

08:20 , Stuti Mishra

Thousands of people gathered to watch the launch of India Aditya-L1 at Sriharikota lauded Isro's efforts.

"We have come from Mumbai to witness this," one viewer told news agency ANI. "It was an unforgettable moment for us."

"It is a wonderful feeling that we are giving competition to space agencies like Nasa and others. We are really excited..."

Facts about India's Aditya L1 mission

08:00 , Stuti Mishra

The Aditya-L1 spacecraft is designed to travel about 1.5 million km (930,000 miles) over four months to a kind of parking lot in space where objects tend to stay put because of balancing gravitational forces, reducing fuel consumption for the spacecraft.

Those positions are called Lagrange Points, named after Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange.

With this mission, scientists hope to learn more about the effect of solar radiation on the thousands of satellites in orbit, a number growing with the success of ventures like the Starlink communications network of Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Longer term, data from the mission could help better understand the sun's impact on earth's climate patterns and the origins of solar wind, the stream of particles that flow from the sun through the solar system, Isro scientists have said.

India has in recent years privatised space launches and is looking to open the sector to foreign investment as it targets a five-fold increase in its share of the global launch market within the next decade.

As space turns into a global business, the country is also banking on the success of Isro to showcase its prowess in the sector.

India's Aditya L1 launch watched by over 800,000 viewers on live-stream

07:46 , Stuti Mishra

India successfully launched its Sun mission a few minutes ago, amid claps and cheers by scientists and public present at the site while hundreds of thousands joined them to view the historic launch online.

An official stream by the Indian space agency Isro was being viewed by over 800,000 people at its peak, and thousands had gathered in person at a viewing gallery near the launch site to see the lift-off of the rocket.

The Aditya-L1 mission aims to study solar winds, which can cause disturbance on Earth commonly seen as auroras.

Spacecraft performance 'as expected'

07:34 , Stuti Mishra

The first three stages of separation have been completed successfully and the Aditya-L1 craft is performing normally.

The craft has shut off its thrusters and is now coasting into its initial Low Earth Orbit position.

Live: India's Aditya-L1 launches its first mission to the Sun

07:34 , Stuti Mishra

Watch: India's Sun mission lifts off

07:28 , Stuti Mishra

Photo: India's Aditya L1 launches succesfully

07:24 , Stuti Mishra

Breaking: India’s Sun mission Aditya L1 launched

07:21 , Stuti Mishra

We have liftoff – India has launched its first mission to the Sun this morning, just days after becoming the first country in history to achieve a soft landing of a spacecraft on the Moon’s uncharted south pole.

More to follow as it goes through the stages of separation.

India's Sun mission can help scientists understand impact of solar radiation on growing number of satellites

07:15 , Stuti Mishra

Scientists hope to learn more about the effect of solar radiation on the thousands of satellites in orbit, a number growing with the success of ventures like the Starlink communications network of Elon Musk's SpaceX.

"The low earth orbit has been heavily polluted due to private participation, so understanding how to safeguard satellites there will have special importance in today's space environment," said Rama Rao Nidamanuri, head of the department of earth and space sciences at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology.

India's Aditya L1 stands ready at site for launch

07:14 , Stuti Mishra

Crowd arrives at Aditya L1 launch site

07:01 , Stuti Mishra

School students, space enthusiasts and many others began arriving at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota city ahead of the launch of ISRO's Aditya L-1 mission.

Where can you watch India's Sun mission Aditya L1 launch?

06:50 , Stuti Mishra

India's Sun mission is set to be launched in less than an hour at 11.50am IST (7.20am BST).

The live telecast of the Aditya-L1 launch can be streamed here on Isro's official YouTube channel.

Scenes from the site of India's Aditya-L1 mission launch

06:40 , Stuti Mishra

Priests gather to pray for India's Sun mission

06:30 , Stuti Mishra

Hindu priests gathered in the holy city of Varanasi to pray for the success of India’s Sun mission today morning.

The ascetics performed a “havan”, a religious ceremony in Hinduism where offerings are made into a consecrated fire to please the Gods before an important event, video posted by an Indian news agency showed.

Similar ceremonies were held for India’s Chandrayaan-3 launched last month.

India's solar mission can make 'big bang in terms of science', says expert

06:20 , Stuti Mishra

The Sun mission about to be launched by India's Isro has the capacity to make a "big bang in terms of science," said Somak Raychaudhury, who was involved in the development of some components of the observatory, adding that energy particles emitted by the Sun can hit satellites that control communications on earth.

"There have been episodes when major communications have gone down because a satellite has been hit by a big corona emission. Satellites in low earth orbit are the main focus of global private players, which makes the Aditya L1 mission a very important project," he said.

Aditya carries seven payloads designed to study the Sun: Know their function

06:05 , Stuti Mishra

Aditya carries with it seven payloads, the elements of the spacecraft specifically dedicated to producing mission data and then relaying that data back to Earth, which are designed to study the Sun from the special Lagrange Point 1 (L1) vantage point.

They will study the Sun’s photosphere, chromosphere and its outermost layer – the corona – using electromagnetic as well as particle and magnetic field detectors.

Four payloads will directly view the Sun while the remaining three are designed to carry out studies of particles and fields at L1.

Some of the objectives of the payloads include a study of the Sun’s partially ionised plasma, initiation of the mass ejections of particles – a process known as Coronal Mass Ejection – and to analyse solar flares.

Why is India sending a spacecraft to the Sun?

05:50 , Stuti Mishra

With Aditya – which means “Sun” in Sanskrit – India's space agency Isro hopes to observe the activities of the star closest to Earth for the first time from space, and observe its effect on space weather phenomena such as solar storms in real-time.

Because various radiations of the Sun do not reach the Earth’s surface, instruments on the planet are unable to detect such radiation, and solar studies based on these radiations could not be carried out.

However, scientists said the new probe can carry out observations of these solar radiations from outside the Earth’s atmosphere – from space.

The Indian agency hopes to fire the spacecraft into a halo orbit in a region known as the Lagrange Point 1 (L1), located about 1.5 million km away from Earth to obtain a continuous and clear view of the Sun.

What time is India's Sun mission launch?

05:30 , Stuti Mishra

The Sun observatory mission Aditya-L1 (Aditya in Sanskrit means the Sun) will be fired from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 11.50am IST (7.20am BST).

The ambitious launch comes less than two weeks after the Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander soft landed on the south pole of the Moon.

India about to launch spacecraft to Sun after successful moon landing

05:21 , Stuti Mishra

India’s space agency Isro is set to launch a new satellite today aimed at studying the Sun, just days after the country successfully landed a spacecraft on the Moon as part of its Chandrayaan-3 mission.

The country’s ambitious mission of landing a spacecraft on the Moon’s south pole – a feat achieved by no other country – will now be followed just days later by the launch of the Aditya-L1 satellite.

“The launch of Aditya-L1, the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun, is scheduled for September 2,” Isro, posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The mission is scheduled to take off via Isro’s PSLV XL rocket from India’s main spaceport, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in southern Andhra Pradesh state’s Sriharikota.

Read more:

India set to launch spacecraft to Sun after successful moon landing

05:07 , Stuti Mishra

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live blog on India’s Sun satellite mission launch, which is taking place in a couple of hours’ time at 11.50am IST.