The ship sailed towards Sriharikota port and is expected to arrive at 11:50 AM on February 2nd.
After the moon landing is complete, ISRO plans to send probes deep into space to study the sun. Aditya-L1 (Aditya is the Hindi name for the sun) is scheduled for September 2 and will be India's first mission to study the sun.
On Thursday ISRO President S Somanath said the space agency is ready to launch and the countdown will begin on Friday.
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft is designed to provide remote observations of the corona at L1 (solar-terrestrial Lagrangian point), about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, and in situ observations of the solar wind. It is worth noting that Aditya-L1 is a regional power with the cooperation of national organizations.
Developed by Bengaluru-based office, it will be India's first office dedicated to observing the sun.
"We are preparing for the announcement.
Rockets and satellites are ready. We finished the rehearsal. So tomorrow we have to start the countdown to the day after tomorrow starts.
Aditya-L1 Station
Aditya-L1 will be placed in orbit around the Sun-Earth system L1, where the gravitational effects of the two bodies cancel each other out. The "park" in space ensures that everything stays in place. It reduces the fuel consumption of the spacecraft due to the balancing of gravity.
Cost of Aditya-L1 mission
The center approved an amount of $46 million for the Aditya-L1 mission in 2019. ISRO has yet to provide an update on the cost.
Why is the Aditya-L1 mission important to India?
This will be another major achievement for ISRO after India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon's south pole in August.
If all goes as planned, Aditya-L1 will enter a halo orbit around five Lagrangian points.
From here, Aditya-L1 should be able to observe the Sun's influence and examine the Sun's influence on the environment around Earth and other planets in real time.
ISRO's spacecraft may also help scientists discover the hidden history of the Earth's atmosphere because solar activities affect the Earth's atmosphere.
Solar missions in other countries
India will be one of the few countries to study the sun.
China has two such spacecraft orbiting the Earth; among them is the Advanced Space-Based Solar Observatory, launched last year to study solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
Hinode orbits the Earth and measures the Sun's magnetic field with support from Japanese, British, American and European institutions.
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Mission (SOHO), a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency, is near the Lagrangian point ISRO has targeted for Aditya-L1. Another joint US-Europe mission, the Solar Orbiter, will fly at its closest distance to the Sun about 42 million miles away.
The United States has other solar missions, including the Parker Solar Probe, which will be the first spacecraft to cross the Sun's corona or upper atmosphere in 2021.
