Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Just days after successfully landing a probe on the Moon, India will launch a satellite to the Sun next week.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced plans to launch a satellite to the Sun on its X account, the social media formerly known as Twitter.
“Launch of Aditya-L1, an India-based solar observation probe, is scheduled for September 2,” ISRO said in its X account.
Aditya, which means Sun in Indian, will be launched into an orbit that is 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. From that orbit, Aditya can continuously observe the Sun.
“This will give Aditya the ability to observe solar activity and its impact on the weather in real-time,” said ISRO.
Aditya carries seven payloads that monitor the Sun’s outer layers known as the photosphere and chromosphere, including devices that utilize electromagnets and particle detection.
Aditya’s main mission is to study the triggers of “space weather”, including understanding the dynamics of the solar wind.
India is not the first country to place its device around the Sun. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) already have devices in the center of the Solar System.
The Chandrayaan-3 drone landed on the surface of the Moon last week, making India the fourth country to successfully explore the Moon after the United States, Russia and China.
This achievement is the fruit of India’s ambitious space program on a limited budget. India’s development has been very fast since they launched a spacecraft to orbit the Moon in 2008.
India, according AFP, can reduce costs by copying existing technology utilizing abundant engineers and experts with lower salaries compared to other countries.
In 2014, India became the first Asian country to send a probe into Mars orbit. India also has a partnership with Japan for its second Moon mission and launch of a probe to Venus in the next 2 years.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
Next Article
The Mystery of the Giant Planet Hidden Behind Pluto
(dem)