New Delhi (Agency): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Sunday that it has successfully performed the first earth-bound manoeuvre for Aditya L1, India’s pioneering solar mission. This achievement was carried out from the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) located in Bengaluru.
The space agency further confirmed that the Aditya L1 satellite is in good health and operating as expected. The successful execution of the first earth-bound manoeuvre marks a significant step forward for the mission’s progress.
ISRO shared the details in an update on ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter. The update stated, “Aditya-L1 Mission: The satellite is healthy and operating nominally. The first Earth-bound manoeuvre (EBN#1) is performed successfully from ISTRAC, Bengaluru. The new orbit attained is 245km x 22459 km. The next manoeuvre (EBN#2) is scheduled for September 5, 2023, around 03:00 Hrs. IST.”
Aditya L1 was launched from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on Saturday. The primary objective of this solar mission is to study the sun’s outer atmosphere by deploying India’s inaugural solar observatory at the Sun-Earth L1 point. L1 refers to Lagrange point 1, a location where the spacecraft is positioned.
The satellite began generating power after its solar panels were successfully deployed. ISRO provided additional insights, explaining that Aditya-L1 will remain situated at a distance of approximately 1.5 million km from Earth, specifically directed towards the sun. This distance corresponds to around one percent of the Earth-Sun distance. It’s important to note that the satellite will neither land on the Sun nor approach it any closer.
ISRO has scheduled the next manoeuvre for Aditya L1 on September 5, 2023, around 03:00 Hrs. IST, as the mission continues to progress towards its scientific objectives of studying the sun’s outer atmosphere from its unique vantage point.