Probing the Heliosphere Using in Situ Payloads On-Board Aditya-L1

Abstract

Aditya-L1, the first ever Indian scientific space mis- sion dedicated to probe the Sun, our nearest star, is slated for launch by the Indian Space Research Organi- sation (ISRO) most likely in 2020, the year coinciding with the expected start of the rising phase of solar cy- cle 25. Of the seven science payloads on-board Aditya- L1, three are in situ instruments, namely the Aditya Solar wind Particle EXperiment, the Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya and a magnetometer package. These three payloads will sample heliospheric data from the L1 Lagrangian point of the Sun–Earth sys- tem, at a distance of ~1% of the distance to the Sun, along the Sun–Earth line. This is therefore a unique opportunity for the solar physics community to gain a better understanding of the inner heliosphere and predict space weather more accurately