Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the solar spacecraft Aditya-L1 successfully reached its destination at Halo Orbit, Lagrangian point L1 at about 16.00 hrs (IST) on Saturday.
Space centre said orbit of Aditya-L1 spacecraft is a periodic Halo orbit which is located about 1.5 million km away from Earth on the continuously moving sun–earth line with an orbital period of about 177.86 Earth days.
Halo orbit is a periodic, three-dimensional orbit at L1 involving Sun, Earth and a spacecraft, said space organisation. Halo orbit was selected to ensure five-year lifespan of the mission as well as minimising station-keeping manoeuvres, thus fuel consumption and ensuring a continuous, unobstructed view of Sun, added ISRO.
The launch aims to observe and understand the chromospheric, meaning a layer above photosphere where the temperature rises from 6000°C to about 20,000°C, and coronal dynamics of the Sun continuously, said ISRO. Additionally, placing Aditya-L1 in Halo orbit around L1 point will provide smooth sun-spacecraft velocity change throughout the orbit, appropriate for helioseismology.
On Saturday, ISRO in a tweet on X, formerly known as Twitter said, “Aditya-L1 has successfully entered the Halo orbit around the L1 point.”
The solar observer is set outside of the magnetosphere of Earth, which is suitable for the in-situ sampling of the solar wind and particles also, allowing unobstructed, continuous observation of the Sun, and view of Earth for enabling continuous communication to ground stations, said Indian space research.
“It is a testament to the relentless dedication of our scientists in realising among the most complex and intricate space missions,” Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, tweeted on X.
ISRO, in early September, launched Aditya-L1 spacecraft in Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C57) departing from the Second Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota.
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