India achieved another milestone in space exploration as the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) solar mission ‘Aditya-L1’ successfully reached its destination on Saturday.
The final destination which the solar observatory spacecraft Aditya-L1 reached today is some 1.5 million kilometres away from the Earth. According to ISRO, the Halo-Orbit Insertion (HOI) of Aditya-L1 was achieved at 16.00 hours (approx) on January 6, 2024 (IST).
The orbit of Aditya-L1 spacecraft is a periodic Halo orbit which is located roughly 1.5 million km from earth on the continuously moving Sun – Earth line with an orbital period of about 177.86 earth days. This Halo orbit is a periodic, three-dimensional orbit at L1 involving Sun, Earth and a spacecraft. This specific halo orbit is selected to ensure a mission lifetime of 5 years, minimizing station-keeping manoeuvres and thus fuel consumption and ensuring a continuous, unobstructed view of sun.
The Aditya-L1 mission is an Indian solar observatory at Lagrangian point L1 for “Observing and understanding the chromospheric and coronal dynamics of the Sun” in a continuous manner.
Taking to platform X, the ISRO wrote, "Greetings from Aditya-L1! I've safely arrived at Lagrange Point L1, 1.5 million km from my home planet. 🌍Excited to be far away, yet intimately connected to unravel the solar mysteries."
Meanwhile, Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi lauded Indian scientists for accomplising the extraordinary feat.
Taking to X, he wrote, "India creates yet another landmark. India’s first solar observatory Aditya-L1 reaches it’s destination. It is a testament to the relentless dedication of our scientists in realising among the most complex and intricate space missions. I join the nation in applauding this extraordinary feat. We will continue to pursue new frontiers of science for the benefit of humanity."
Aditya-L1 was designed and realised at UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) with participation from various ISRO centres. The payloads onboard Aditya-L1 were developed by Indian scientific laboratories, IIA, IUCA and ISRO. The Aditya-L1 spacecraft was launched by PLSV-C57 on September 2, 2023 from SDSC SHAR, into an elliptical parking orbit (EPO) of 235.6 km by 19502.7 km.
From here, Aditya-L1 embarked on an extraordinary journey towards the Sun-Earth-L1 Lagrange point, with the help of the onboard propulsion system, increased its orbital size progressively and moved toward L1 point.
