Aditya-L1 spacecraft sets off for its final destination

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, September 19

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday successfully placed the Aditya-L1 spacecraft outside earth’s gravitational sphere of influence and on a trajectory that will take it to the sun-earth L1 point.

The spacecraft, India’s first space-based solar observatory, will be injected into an orbit around L1 (Lagrange Point 1) through a manoeuvre after about 110 days.

The 1,475-kg satellite, equipped with seven instruments to study sun, will cover a distance of 15 lakh km between the insertion point and its destination by travelling at a speed of 30 km/second. Propulsion to the spacecraft will be provided by the gravitational force of sun.

Launched from the ISRO spaceport at Sriharikota on September 3 and placed in an earth-bound orbit, Aditya-L1 underwent four orbit-raising manoeuvres over a period of 16 days to give it the necessary velocity to escape earth’s gravity and set off for L1 point.

The L1 point of the earth-sun system is currently home to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite (SOHO), a joint enterprise of NASA and European Space Agency (ESA).

The primary objectives of India’s maiden solar mission include collecting scientific data and marking another milestone in India’s solar exploration efforts.