Aditya-L1: India's First Solar Mission Achieves Major Milestone

India's Aditya-L1 spacecraft, the nation's first solar mission, has completed its first halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L1 point. The mission, launched in September 2023, aims to study solar dynamics and has full validation of its flight dynamics software.

India's Aditya-L1 spacecraft, the country's maiden solar mission, successfully completed its first halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L1 point on Tuesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced.

The ISRO further detailed that a station-keeping manoeuvre on Tuesday assured the seamless transition into the second halo orbit, marking a significant milestone for the mission.

Launched on September 2, 2023, and positioned in its designated halo orbit by January 6, 2024, the Aditya-L1 mission orbits the Lagrangian point L1. According to ISRO, completing one revolution around L1 takes the spacecraft 178 days.

The Aditya-L1 spacecraft undergoes various perturbing forces during its travel, which tend to displace it from the targeted orbit, requiring continuous monitoring and adjustments. ISRO informed that the spacecraft has undergone three station-keeping manoeuvres—on February 22, June 7, and the most recent one being on Tuesday—to maintain its trajectory.

This mission, involving complex dynamic modeling, leverages advanced in-house developed flight dynamics software to accurately determine its path and plan precise manoeuvres, ISRO added. With the recent manoeuvre, the software has been fully validated, ensuring the mission's continued progress around the L1 point.

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