The trip of ISRO's Aditya-L1 to Lagrange-1 point

The trip of ISRO's Aditya-L1 to Lagrange-1 point

The trip of ISRO's Aditya-L1 to Lagrange-1 point

An important mission milestone, the Aditya-L1's entrance into hello orbit requires exact navigation and control.

Continuous monitoring and onboard thruster modifications to the spacecraft's location and speed are also necessary for a successful arrival.

January 6 saw the arrival of the Aditya spacecraft, which was meant to study the Sun, after the successful completion of the nation's lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 in August, during which ISRO successfully landed the 'Vikram' lander on the moon's south pole.

With an orbital period of around 177.86 Earth days, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft is situated in a periodic halo orbit approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth on a continually shifting Sun-Earth line. The Sun, Earth, and a spacecraft on orbit L1 are all included in this three-dimensional, periodic orbit known as the halo. This specific halo orbit was selected to minimize fuel consumption associated with station-keeping duties and to provide a continuous, unhindered view of the Sun, ultimately resulting in a 5-year mission lifespan.

The following is the timeline of events pertaining to Aditya L1. September 2, 2023:

Aditya-L1 is launched by ISRO aboard PSLV-C57.

ISRO launches Aditya-L1 on PSLV-C57 on September 2, 2023.

3 September: With a successful completion of the first Earth-bound maneuver, an orbit of 245 km by 22459 km was attained.

September 5: The successful completion of the second maneuver on Earth. A new orbit of 282 km by 40225 km was attained.

10 September: A new orbit of 296 km x 71767 km is reached by the third Earth-bound maneuver.

September 15: A new orbit of 256 km by 121973 km was successfully achieved by completing the fourth Earthbound maneuver.

Aditya-L1 starts gathering scientific data on September 18.

September 30: As the spacecraft approaches Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1), it leaves Earth's zone of influence.

October 6: To adjust the trajectory, a 16-second Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM) was carried out. The TCM made sure the spacecraft was headed in the right direction to join the halo orbit around L1.

November 7: The first high-energy X-ray view of solar flares was recorded by the HEL1OS payload.

December 1st: The Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX) payload saw the operationalization of the Solar Wind Ion Spectrometer (SWIS).

December 10: Near ultraviolet full-disk photos of the Sun are taken by the SUIT payload.

India's first solar observatory, Aditya-L1, arrives at its target on January 6, 2024.

An important mission milestone, the Aditya-L1's entrance into hello orbit requires exact navigation and control. Continuous monitoring and onboard thruster modifications to the spacecraft's location and speed are also necessary for a successful arrival. The successful completion of this insertion guaranteed future interplanetary flights and demonstrated ISRO's competence in challenging orbital operations.