ISRO chairman offers special prayers at Chengalamma temple for success of Aditya L-1 launch

TIRUPATI: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman S Somanath has offered special prayers at Sri Chengalamma temple in Sullurpet in Tirupati district on Friday for the success of the Aditya L-1 satellite launch at Sriharikota on Saturday.

Somanath said that the PSLV-C57 rocket launch would be conducted at 11.50 am on Saturday and the Aditya L1 satellite would be sent to the Sun through this launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR) in Sriharikota in Tirupati district. The countdown for India’s maiden solar observatory mission Aditya L-1 would begin at 11.50 am on Friday.

The ISRO chairman said that the Aditya L-1 satellite would be launched at the L1 RANGE point near the Sun. Referring to Chandrayaan-3, he said that the lander and rover from Chandrayaan-3 that reached the moon were functioning successfully. He also announced that Gaganyaan would launch a rocket in the first or second week of October, followed by the launch of an INSAT-3Ds rocket by a GSLV-MkII rocket. While the SSLV rocket would be launched in November, he added.