Probing the Heliosphere Using in Situ Payloads On-Board Aditya-L1

Aditya-L1, the first ever Indian scientific space mission dedicated to probe the Sun, our nearest star, is slated for launch by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) most likely in 2020, the year coinciding with the expected start of the rising phase of solar cycle 25. Of the seven science payloads on-board Aditya-L1, three are in situ instruments, namely the Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment, the Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya and a magnetometer package. These three payloads will sample heliospheric data from the L1 Lagrangian point of the Sun-Earth system, at a distance of ~1% of the distance to the Sun, along the Sun-Earth line. This is therefore a unique opportunity for the solar physics community to gain a better understanding of the inner heliosphere and predict space weather more accurately.