Countdown begins! ISRO gears up for Aditya L1 to enter Sun's orbit today

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to manoeuvre its Aditya-L1 solar mission into a stable halo orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1) on Saturday, January 6. 

The pioneering spacecraft is nearing the final phase of a months-long journey to begin its close-up study of the Sun.

Halo orbit to enable uninterrupted solar observations

The insertion at L1, located some 1.5 million km from Earth, will position Aditya-L1 to leverage a halo orbit that avoids eclipses and planet magnetic fields. 

This will allow the satellite to conduct consistent long-term observations without interruption, a crucial capability to meet the mission’s science goals.

Multi-year mission to investigate solar atmosphere

Aditya-L1 first launched aboard the PSLV-C57 rocket last year on September 2 and carries a suite of seven highly specialised instruments. 

These instruments include the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC), Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS), Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA), High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS), Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT), Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX), and onboard Magnetometers (MAG).

These will enable ISRO to investigate high-priority questions about the solar corona, flares, coronal mass ejections and other activity that can adversely impact satellite operations, communications infrastructure, and power grids on Earth.

Spacecraft equipped with cutting-edge detectors

The payloads on Aditya-L1 include advanced electromagnetic and particle detectors designed specifically to observe the Sun’s challenging environment across multiple wavelengths. 

The mission has a planned lifetime through 2028, with ISRO expecting to gather unprecedented data on the Sun.

Findings to benefit Indian and global science

ISRO Chairman S. Somanath has highlighted that Aditya-L1’s solar findings will not only prove valuable for India’s space program but also significantly benefit the worldwide scientific community’s understanding of the Sun and efforts to understand the hazardous space dynamics.