NASA / Bill INGALLS
KEY POINTS
- Aditya-L1 mission’s “healthy” spacecraft is on its way to the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1)
- The spacecraft was launched on Sept. 2 days after the Chandrayaan-3 mission saw a successful moon landing
- The spacecraft is expected to reach L1 approximately 100 days after launch
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said the Aditya-L1 mission’s spacecraft is healthy and on its way to its destination — the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1), which is about 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth.
In an update provided Sunday about India’s first space mission to study the sun, ISRO said the spacecraft successfully performed a trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) for about 16 seconds on Oct. 6 to ensure Aditya L1 is on the intended path.
“The spacecraft is healthy and on its way to Sun-Earth L1,” ISRO wrote on Twitter. “A Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM), originally provisioned, was performed on October 6, 2023, for about 16 s. It was needed to correct the trajectory evaluated after tracking the Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) maneuver performed on September 19, 2023.”
“TCM ensures that the spacecraft is on its intended path towards the Halo orbit insertion around L1,” it said. “As Aditya-L1 continues to move ahead, the magnetometer will be turned on again within a few days.”
The Indian space agency launched the Aditya-L1 spacecraft from Sriharikota, an island off the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, on Sept. 2, just days after the Chandrayaan-3 mission saw a successful landing on the lunar south pole.
The aim of the Aditya-L1 mission is to place the spacecraft in a halo orbit around L1 and study the Sun’s atmosphere, magnetic field and other aspects.
Located between the Earth and the Sun, L1 is roughly 1% of the distance to the Sun and is regarded as a good location for Aditya L1 and other solar explorers because of the unobstructed view of the star it offers. The view from L1 is never eclipsed by the Earth.
The spacecraft is expected to reach L1 approximately 100 days after launch.
“A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses,” ISRO said in a statement. “This will provide a greater advantage of observing the solar activities and its effect on space weather in real-time.”
