Aditya-L1: India shoots its solar probe at sun after Chandrayaan-3 success

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) kickstarted its solar mission Aditya with a rocket launch on Saturday, after the country's successful soft landing on the moon's south pole.

India's space agency successfully launched its Aditya-L1 solar mission at 11:50 am IST from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

The Aditya-L1 is a solar mission that aims to study the sun and its effects on Earth. The spacecraft will travel to the Lagrange point, a region of space where the gravitational forces of the sun and Earth balance each other out. This will allow the spacecraft to stay in a stable orbit around the sun while studying it.

The Aditya-L1 is equipped with a number of instruments that will study the sun's atmosphere, magnetic field, and solar wind. The mission is expected to provide valuable data about the sun and its effects on Earth, including its impact on climate change.

The launch of the Aditya-L1 is a major milestone for India's space program. It comes just one week after India became the first country to land a spacecraft on the south pole of the moon. 

The launch was watched by over 860,000 people on ISRO's website and by thousands of people who gathered at a viewing gallery near the launch site. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated ISRO on the successful launch and said that it was a "giant step" towards India's space ambitions.

The Aditya-L1 is expected to reach its Lagrange point in four months. Once it arrives at the Lagrange point, the spacecraft will begin its mission to study the sun. The mission is expected to last for five years.