India’s first solar mission, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, has completed its first halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L1 point. ISRO said its station-keeping manoeuvre yesterday ensured its seamless transition into the second halo orbit. The Aditya-L1 mission, which is an Indian solar observatory at Lagrangian point L1, was launched on September 2, 2023, and was inserted in its targeted halo orbit on January 6, 2024.
According to ISRO, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft in the halo orbit takes 178 days to complete a revolution around the L1 point. During its travel in the halo orbit, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft will be subjected to various perturbing forces that will cause it to depart from the targeted orbit, the space agency said. The ISRO explained that Aditya L1’s journey around the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrangian point involves modelling complex dynamics.
