India’s Aditya-L1 spacecraft embarked on a historic 110-day journey to observe the sun from a vantage point at the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point, following a successful key manoeuvre in the early hours of Tuesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced.
Initiating its trans-lagrangian insertion to the pivotal L1 Lagrange point – a unique gravitational point between the Earth and the Sun – the mission sets the stage for unprecedented solar studies. The spacecraft will maintain a halo orbit roughly 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, leveraging the L1 point’s equilibrium to continuously observe the sun without eclipses, offering real-time insights into solar activities and their impact on space weather.
In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), ISRO confirmed, “Off to Sun-Earth L1 point! The Trans-Lagrangian Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) manoeuvre is performed successfully… It will be injected into an orbit around L1 through a manoeuvre after about 110 days.” Deployed through the PSLV-C57 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on September 2, the spacecraft carried out four Earth-bound manoeuvres to gain the requisite velocity for its onward journey. The recent TL1I marks the fifth consecutive successful celestial trajectory transfer for ISRO, enhancing India’s foray into space exploration.
