Hyderabad: ISRO Chairman Dr Somanath confirms Aditya-L1’s L1 insertion this Saturday

Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of the JNTU-Hyderabad’s XII convocation held here on Friday, Dr. Somanath said the insertion was being planned around 4 pm.

Hyderabad: The Aditya-L1 insertion into Lagrangian point (L1) will happen on Saturday, said Dr. Sreedhara Panicker Somanath, Chairman Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of the JNTU-Hyderabad’s XII convocation held here on Friday, Dr. Somanath said the insertion was being planned around 4 pm.

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The ISRO recently launched the Aditya-L1, the first Indian space-based observatory to study the Sun. On the challenges of Aditya-L1 insertion, Dr. Somanath said it is an orbital mechanics model.

“The satellite is moving at very high velocity. Turning it to come to its position, which is mathematically run, cannot be seen from here. We depend on the measurements and radar signals that are sent and get back to understand its position correctly. As per our calculations till now it is good,” Dr. Somanath said.

Meanwhile, the ISRO will be launching the GSLV MK-II INSAT 3DS, a climate and weather satellite, possibly in this month or in the beginning of February. The PSLV-C58 XPoSAT launched on January 1 was doing well, he said, adding that “ All its instruments are slowly switched on and we will get to know about the results soon”.

Stating the 2024 is Gaganyan year, Dr. Somanath said preparations were in full swing. There were other commercial launches including GSLV and LVM3 lined up this year.

“ SSLV will be next launched. We also have launches of GSLV launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Earth science mission. Our hands are full with lots of mission,” he added.