ISRO Chairman, S Somanath, said the space agency was getting ready for the September 2 launch of the country's ambitious solar mission, Aditya-L1 and that the countdown for its launch will start today(Friday).
The mission is scheduled to be launched on September 2 at 11.50 am from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.
Aditya-L1 spacecraft is designed to provide remote observations of the solar corona and in situ observations of the solar wind at L1 (Sun-Earth Lagrangian point), which is about 1.5 million km from the earth.
Watch. Why ISRO’s Aditya L-1 mission is unique
It will be the first dedicated Indian space mission for observations of the Sun to be launched by the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency.
"We are just getting ready for the launch. The rocket and satellite are ready. We completed the rehearsal for the launch. So tomorrow we have to start the countdown for the day after tomorrow launch," Somanath told reporters here on Thursday.
"After launch we will see further," he added.
Aditya-L1 is a fully indigenous effort with the participation of national institutions.
Also read: Checking out the Sun: Why ISRO’s Aditya L-1 mission is unique in many ways
On the ongoing Chandrayaan 3 mission, where the rover Pragyan is currently moving around on the lunar surface, the ISRO chief said, "everything is working fine" and all data was coming through very well.
"Everything is working very healthy and we are hopeful that by the end of 14 (earth) days our mission will be successfully completed."