Aditya-L1: Know how much the ISRO mission will cost and check comparison with NASA

India is about to embark on yet another historic journey, this time to the Sun. Just a few days ago, India was in the news as the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon was successful as it achieved a soft landing on the lunar South Pole, becoming the first in the world to do so. Now, with its solar mission named Aditya-L1, which is set to launch on September 2, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) hopes to unravel the mysteries of the Sun.

The spacecraft, along with the PSLV-C57, is now being readied for the launch and has been rolled out onto the Launch Pad 2 of the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. ISRO Chairman S Somnath said, “We are just getting ready for the launch. The rocket and satellite are ready. We completed the rehearsal for the launch. So tomorrow, we have to start the countdown for the day after tomorrow’s launch.”

With less than a day to go until the launch, here’s how much India’s maiden solar mission, Aditya-L1 will reportedly cost.

Aditya-L1: Cost

India is renowned for its cost-effective space missions. The Chandrayaan-1, which launched in October 2008 with the aim of mapping the lunar surface for chemical, and mineralogical composition, cost Rs. 386 crore. The next two lunar missions, Chandrayaan-2 and the recent Chandrayaan-3 were also carried out with a cost of Rs. 978 crore and Rs. 600 crore respectively, which is even less than the budget of Hollywood space films such as Interstellar and Gravity.

Aditya-L1 is also expected to be a cost-effective mission. While ISRO has not revealed the latest cost breakdown of the mission, a previous Lok Sabha query revealed that the Government of India had allocated a budget of about Rs. 378.53 crore for the solar mission, excluding launch costs.

Vs other space missions

This would make Aditya-1 one of the cheapest solar missions ever undertaken. In comparison, NASA’s STEREO spacecraft, which was launched on October 25, 2006, with the aim of studying the structure and evolution of solar storms as they emerge from the Sun, cost a staggering $550 million.

On the other hand, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which is flying closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft in history, reportedly cost NASA a staggering $1.5 billion, due to the complex technology and meticulous research involved in its development.