As the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed Aditya-L1 spacecraft into its destination orbit, the space agency’s chief S Somanath called it an “end of a long journey”, adding that it was an anxious moment but they were sure it would be successful. The ISRO chief also said that the mission was “complex” and that they have overcome the complexity precisely.

“126 days from lift-off to now…it has reached the final point. So reaching the final point is always, an anxious moment, but we were very sure about it. So, it happened as predicted. We are very happy,” he said.

The ISRO chief added, “It was a complex mission, I won’t say challenging mission. Challenges are something that we love, complexities are something that we have to overcome. Today, we have overcome the complexity, and we were able to achieve that very precisely…Payloads are working very well, but now many more things are to be done on payloads to make sure that the data is reliable and usable, so that will start from now.”

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauding the space agency for the second successful mission in a span of nine months, Somanath said, “He (PM Modi) messaged us through his social media platform and appreciated the work that we did. We are very happy about it. We are waiting…maybe he will interact with us at an appropriate time,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Aditya-L1, the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun, successfully reached Lagrange Point L1 – which is around 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. According to officials, a satellite in a Halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultations or eclipses.

The mission that began in September last year, aims to discover the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun, known as the corona, provide crucial data for understanding particle dynamics emanating from the Sun along with delving into the physics of the solar corona, and analyse temperatures, velocity, and density of plasma within corona loops. It will also help in identifying processes at various layers leading to solar eruptive events and investigating magnetic field topology.

(With inputs from agencies)