Aditya-L1 to study solar storms that destroyed Space X satellites. What is Elon Musk’s Solar mission connection?

In 2022, a geomagnetic storm triggered by a large burst of radiation from the sun disabled at least 40 of the 49 satellites launched by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Such explosions on the sun emitted huge amounts of energy that also affected GPS coordinates and radio transmissions on the Earth. 

It is pertinent to mention that these mass ejections will be studied by the primary payload of the Indian Space Research Organisation's Aditya-L1 mission, called Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC), according to a report published by MoneyControl. 

In an exclusive interview with MoneyControl, IIA Director Annapurni Subramaniam said the question that arises here is how the sun affects things in space as people are highly dependent on space technology. 

“You must know that Musk's Starlink satellites were disrupted last year. This is happening because the sun is becoming active now. Hence, such things happen,” Subramaniam told MoneyControl. 

ISRO is set to launch the solar mission, Aditya-L1 today following the successful Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission. Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander soft landed on the south pole of the Moon less than two weeks ago.

Also Read: LIVE Updates on Aditya-L1 mission launch

The Aditya-L1 mission is scheduled for liftoff at 11:50 am on September 2, 2023, from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

The mission is expected to take 125 days to reach its intended orbit around L1 according to ISRO chairman S Somanath. It will initially remain in Earth-bound orbits for 16 days, undergoing five manoeuvres to gain the necessary velocity using onboard propulsion.

Upon reaching L1, Aditya-L1 will be manoeuvred into an irregularly shaped orbit, roughly perpendicular to the line joining the Earth and the Sun, where it will spend its mission life.

Studying the Sun in detail will provide valuable insights into stars in the Milky Way and other galaxies said ISRO. Aditya-L1's primary payload, the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC), will transmit 1,440 images per day to Earth for analysis.

The mission aims to better understand the solar atmosphere, solar wind distribution, temperature anisotropy, and more. The spacecraft will stay approximately 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, constantly facing the Sun, which is about 1% of the Earth-Sun distance.