ISRO Chief S Somanath offers prayers at Chengalamma temple ahead of solar mission launch

Talking to reporters, the ISRO chief said the Aditya mission will be launched at 11:50 am on September 2.

ISRO Chairman S Somanath on Friday visited the Sri Chengalamma Parameshwari temple in Sullurpeta in the run-up to the launch of Aditya-L1 mission and prayed for its success.

Somanath visited the temple at 7:30 am and offered prayers to the deity, said a temple official.

Talking to reporters, the ISRO chief said the Aditya mission will be launched at 11:50 am on Saturday.

He said the solar mission is for studying the Sun and it will take 125 days to reach the exact radius.

Following the Sun observatory mission, the space agency would launch various others including SSLV - D3 and PSLV in the coming days, he added.

About the Chandrayaan-3 mission, Somanath said everything is working well.

Srinivas Reddy, executive officer of Chengalamma Parameshwari temple, told PTI that ISRO officials visiting this temple before rocket launches had become a tradition, which goes back to 15 years.

Somanath had visited the temple on the eve of the Chandrayaan-3 mission also.