Chandrayaan 3 and Aditya L1: ISRO’s moon mission to be launched soon

Published
8th May, 2023

Context

Taking a leap forward in the space research sector of India, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch two back-to-back missions in a few months – Chandrayaan 3 and Aditya L1, both set to be launched in July 2023.

About the missions

Chandrayaan 3

Chandrayaan 3 is the third moon mission set to be launched by ISRO, where a spacecraft will be launched into the lunar orbit of the moon for space research.
It a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.
It consists of Lander and Rover configuration. It will be launched by LVM3.

Previous Editions

The first edition of ISRO moon missions –
- Chandrayaan 1 – was launched in 2008 and was successfully inserted into the lunar orbit of the moon.
- Chandrayaan 2 was launched in 2019 but its lander had crash-landed on the moon’s surface due to a software glitch.

Aditya L1

Aditya L1 is set to be India’s first-ever space mission to the sun.
Aditya L1 is a planned coronagraphy spacecraft to study the solar atmosphere and is a first-of-its-kind mission set to be carried out by ISRO.
The main aim of the Aditya L1 mission is to insert the spacecraft in the halo orbit around the L1 point between the Earth and the Sun, through which it will be able to study the atmosphere of the Sun and the solar magnetic storms and its impact on the Earth.

Important Terms

Halo orbit: A halo orbit is a type of orbit around an L1, L2, or L3 Lagrangian point.
Lagrange Points: They are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two body system like the Sun and the Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion. These can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position.
- Of the five Lagrange points, three are unstable (L1, L2, L3) and two are stable (L4, L5).
  - The L1 point offers an uninterrupted views of the Sun and Earth and has been used as a location from which to study both star and Earth.
  - The L2 point is the optimal Lagrange point for satellites conducting deep space astronomical observations.
  - The L3 point is always opposite the Earth on the far side of the Sun.