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After the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon, ISRO on Monday announced that India’s first solar mission Aditya-L1 to study the Sun will be launched on September 2 at 11.50 am from Sriharikota spaceport. 

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 Lagrange point), which is about 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth.

Lagrange Points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of the Sun and the Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion. These can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position, according to NASA. Lagrange points are named in honor of Italian-French mathematician Josephy-Louis Lagrange.

The Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said in a social media post that the spacecraft — the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun — would be launched using a PSLV-C57 rocket.

The Aditya-L1 mission, aimed at studying the Sun from an orbit around the L1, would carry seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere and the corona — the outermost layers of the Sun — in different wavebands.

Aditya-L1 is a fully indigenous effort with the participation of national institutions, an ISRO official said.

The Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) is the lead institute for the development of Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) payload while Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, has developed the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) payload for the mission.

According to ISRO, VELC aims to collect the data for solving how the temperature of the corona can reach about a million degrees while the Sun’s surface itself stays just over 6000 degrees Centigrade.

Aditya-L1 can provide observations on the corona, and on the solar chromosphere using the UV payload and on the flares using the X-ray payloads. The particle detectors and the magnetometer payload can provide information on charged particles and the magnetic field reaching the halo orbit around L1.

The satellite, developed by U R Rao Satellite Centre here, arrived at ISRO’s spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, earlier this month.

It is planned to be placed in a halo orbit around the L1 point of the Sun-Earth system.

A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any planets obstructing the view or causing eclipses, ISRO noted. “This will provide a greater advantage of observing the solar activities and its effect on space weather in real time,” it said.

Using the special vantage point L1, four payloads would directly view the Sun and the remaining three payloads are expected to carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields at the L1 point, thus providing important scientific studies of the propagatory effect of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium.

“The SUITs of Aditya L1 payloads are expected to provide the most crucial information to understand the problem of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection (CME), pre-flare and flare activities and their characteristics, dynamics of space weather, propagation of particle and fields etc,” ISRO said.

The major science objectives of the Aditya-L1 mission are: study of solar upper atmospheric (chromosphere and corona) dynamics; study of chromospheric and coronal heating, physics of the partially ionised plasma, initiation of the coronal mass ejections, and flares; observe the in-situ particle and plasma environment providing data for the study of particle dynamics from the Sun; and physics of solar corona and its heating mechanism.

Besides, the mission aims to study diagnostics of the coronal and coronal loops plasma: temperature, velocity and density; development, dynamics and origin of CMEs; identify the sequence of processes that occur at multiple layers (chromosphere, base and extended corona) which eventually leads to solar eruptive events; magnetic field topology and magnetic field measurements in the solar corona; and drivers for space weather (origin, composition and dynamics of solar wind).

The instruments of Aditya-L1 are tuned to observe the solar atmosphere, mainly the chromosphere and corona. In-situ instruments will observe the local environment at the L1 point. 

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Supermassive Black Hole Burps Matter at Near-Light Speeds After Consuming Gas Too Fast

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June 25, 2025

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Supermassive Black Hole Burps Matter at Near-Light Speeds After Consuming Gas Too Fast

A distant supermassive black hole has stunned astronomers by expelling matter at speeds nearing a third of light velocity after consuming material at an extreme rate. Designated PG1211+143, this cosmic powerhouse lies in a Seyfert galaxy 1.2 billion light-years away and boasts a mass 40 million times greater than the Sun. Researchers using the ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray telescope tracked an influx of gas equivalent to 10 Earths over just five weeks, only to find the black hole burping out excess matter at around 0.27 times the speed of light.

Supermassive Black Hole’s Outflows May Halt Star Formation and Alter Galaxy Evolution Permanently

As per a report in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, these ultra-fast outflows followed the inflow by a delay of a few days, heating the surrounding active galactic nucleus (AGN) to millions of degrees. The radiation pressure generated was powerful enough to push out surrounding gas, potentially starving the black hole’s galaxy of star-forming material. This feedback loop, scientists suggest, might represent the transition from active star-birth sites to galaxies entering a quieter period.

The winds ejected at more than 181 million mph most likely blew away clouds of cold gas, which were necessary for stellar births. The evidence found allowed Pounds to observe a black hole as it grew, even though there is not much matter to feed the black hole, even if it is large.

This discovery can enable people to understand the influence of quasars and AGNs on galaxy life cycles. High-speed ejections of outflowing matter paralyse the star-formation process and turn star-forming regions into barren space. However, additional monitoring in pursuit to determine their frequency and global pattern of cosmic evolution.

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Amazon’s Kuiper Launches 27 Satellites, Eyes 2025 LEO Broadband Rollout

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June 25, 2025

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Amazon's Kuiper Launches 27 Satellites, Eyes 2025 LEO Broadband Rollout

Demand for broadband connectivity is driving a surge in satellite constellations in low Earth orbit (LEO). LEO systems offer lower-latency links to remote areas and the potential to connect underserved communities. Amazon’s Project Kuiper and SpaceX’s Starlink head this wave. GeekWire notes that each Kuiper launch is “another significant step toward competing with SpaceX’s global Starlink network”, and Amazon is joining a “growing list of companies” seeking to challenge Starlink in the rapidly evolving LEO broadband arena. Indeed, filings show Amazon expects Kuiper to begin offering service by 2025.

Project Kuiper’s Ambitious Launch Plans

According to Amazon, Kuiper project is now moving into full deployment. It first flew two prototype satellites in late 2023, and on April 28, 2025 it launched 27 production satellites aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. Kuiper aims for roughly a 3,200-satellite constellation, and Amazon has pre-booked dozens of heavy-lift launches to build it. For example, Space.com reports Kuiper will require “more than 3,200 satellites… after 83 launches on Atlas V, ULA’s Vulcan, Blue Origin’s New Glenn and Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rockets”. In December 2023 Amazon also secured three SpaceX Falcon 9 launches. These multi-provider launch contracts (costing many billions) are intended to spread schedule risk and ensure Kuiper’s constellation is delivered on time.

Amazon expects to begin customer service in late 2025, driving its schedule. To meet this timeline, it has reserved dozens of launch slots on Atlas V, ULA’s new Vulcan, Blue Origin’s New Glenn, Arianespace’s Ariane 6 and even SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets. These commitments ensure the required satellites will launch quickly to meet Amazon’s deployment milestones.

Global Competition in LEO Broadband

SpaceX’s Starlink leads with over 7,600 satellites already in orbit. SpaceX has flown dozens of Starlink launches this year to expand coverage. Meanwhile, rivals aim even higher: China’s state-backed Guowang project plans roughly 13,000 satellites, and the Shanghai-led “Thousand Sails” (Qianfan) network targets about 14,000. SpaceNews noted that these Chinese launches “advance [China’s] ambitious LEO network to rival Starlink and other global systems”. This worldwide build-out underscores that LEO broadband is evolving into a critical new domain of internet infrastructure.

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Soviet Venus Probe Kosmos-482 Re-enters Earth’s Atmosphere After 52 Years, Location Unclear

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June 25, 2025

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Soviet Venus Probe Kosmos-482 Re-enters Earth’s Atmosphere After 52 Years, Location Unclear

More than five decades after orbiting the Earth, the Soviet-era Venus probe Kosmos-482 re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on May 10, 2025, this time perplexing scientists about its precise re-entry. The mission was first flung into space in 1972, but a rocket failure left the probe stuck in high orbit around Earth instead of sending it on a course to Venus. The spacecraft’s descent capsule, which weighed about 495 kilograms, is believed to have fallen to Earth in the Indian Ocean, off Jakarta. However, various tracking models pointed to different locations of the exact impact, evidencing the severe limitations of predicting re-entries of space debris.

Tracking Soviet Probe Kosmos-482’s Reentry Exposes Gaps in Space Object Forecasting Models

As per a report from Space.com, other organisations, including Roscosmos, the U.S. Department of Defence, and the European Space Agency, made conflicting predictions demonstrating just how hard it is to estimate when a space object will re-enter. The module’s robust design—built to withstand Venus’s intense conditions—likely enabled it to survive reentry, but atmospheric variability, object orientation, and solar activity complicated tracking efforts.

Experts suggest Kosmos-482’s descent illustrates the need for improved reentry models. “Even a small deviation can translate into thousands of kilometres on Earth’s surface,” noted Aerospace Corporation’s Marlon Sorge. The “oddball” shape of the lander and its ability to possibly skip across atmospheric layers further blurred precise modelling.

Some scientists, like Pavel Shubin, believe the capsule could still be afloat, while others argue it may have sunk beyond recovery. With reentry predictions still confounded by “unhelpful physics” and data gaps, Kosmos-482 serves as a reminder that better tools and open-source collaboration, like TU Delft’s Tudat, may be crucial to future space traffic safety and planetary defence.

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Tecno Spark Go 2 With 5,000mAh Battery, Free Link App Support Launched in India: Price, Specifications

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