India’s Aditya-L1 Solar Mission has successfully performed its second earth-bound manoeuvre from the Indian Space and Research Organization Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), the Indian space agency said in a statement.
“ISTRAC/ISRO's ground stations at Mauritius, Bengaluru and Port Blair tracked the satellite during this operation. The new orbit attained is 282 km x 40225 km,” it said.
The ISRO has said that the first earth-bound manoeuvre was successfully executed on September 3, a day after the mission was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center off the coastline of Andhra Pradesh.
The next manoeuvre is scheduled for 10 September, it said.
The ISRO has noted that the mission would stay in Earth’s orbits for 16 days, during which it will undergo five manoeuvres to gain necessary velocity for its onward journey near the Sun.
After these five manoeuvres, Aditya-L1 will begin its 110-day trajectory to its destination around the L1 Lagrange point.
“Upon arrival at the L1 point, another manoeuvre would put Aditya-L1 to an orbit around L1, a balanced gravitational location between the Earth and the Sun,” the space agency explained.
The nominal mission life of Aditya-L1 is estimated to be five years.
What’s the Purpose of Aditya-L1 Mission?
The strategic placement of the solar satellite is meant to ensure that Aditya-L1 will get an “uninterrupted view” of the Sun, according to ISRO.
“This location also allows the satellite to access solar radiation and magnetic storms before they are influenced by Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere,” ISRO explained.
Further, ISRO has estimated that L1 point’s “gravitational stability” would minimize the “need for frequent orbital maintenance efforts” and optimize the satellite’s operational efficiency.