Indian space mission's moment in the Sun

India's space scientists are celebrating their "first significant results": their maiden solar-observation mission could help protect the Earth's power and communication systems from destructive solar storms.

Indian spacecraft Aditya-L1 – named after the Hindu god of the Sun – has captured data that helped the scientists predict the exact time of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These "massive fireballs" that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer can significantly affect the weather on Earth and satellites in space, said BBC News.

A single CME "could weigh up to a trillion kgs and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km per second", said Professor R Ramesh of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, who designed the instrument that captured the data. "Now imagine this huge fireball hurtling towards Earth."

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'Absolute chaos'

CMEs, like other types of solar storm, can cause "beautiful auroras" near the North and South Poles, said the BBC. But they can also "cause mayhem" by interfering with Earth's magnetic field, making satellites malfunction or knocking down power grids. In 1989, a CME "knocked out part of Quebec's power grid for nine hours", leaving six million Canadians without power.

"Today, our lives fully depend on communication satellites," Professor Ramesh told the broadcaster, and CMEs can "trip the internet, phone lines and radio communication", leading to "absolute chaos".

But, if space scientists can spot what's happening on the Sun in real time, this can "work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites and keep them out of harm's way".

'Breathtaking' ambition

Nasa, the European Space Agency, and Japanese and Chinese space scientists have been running solar-observation missions for decades, but India's solar space mission is new. Aditya-L1 was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in September 2023, and "travelled 1.5 million km from Earth" to orbit the Sun, said The Guardian.

"India's space ambitions are at a critical juncture," said Nature, "buoyed by the success of its missions to Moon and Mars, and driven by bold policies" that support "cutting-edge space research" and "radical ideas".

The country has already "accomplished great things" in space, said US politics site The Hill. Last year, it became the first to land a probe on the Moon's south pole, has orbited Mars, and has also launched two astronomy missions.

This year, India has announced several new endeavours and approved 227 billion rupees (£2.1 billion) – its "largest-ever allocation of funds" – for space projects, said BBC News. Plans include a crewed mission to the Moon, sending an orbiter to Venus, and the first phase of a space station. Its ambition to become "a major space power" – on par with the US and China – is "breathtaking", said The Hill.