The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Tuesday that Aditya-L1 has completed its first halo orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrangian point 1 (L1). The spacecraft, inserted into this orbit on January 6, took 178 days to complete the revolution. To maintain this orbit, Aditya-L1 underwent three station-keeping manoeuvres on February 22, June 7, and July 2. These manoeuvres were necessary to counteract perturbing forces that could push the spacecraft off course, ensuring its transition into the second halo orbit.
Challenges in maintaining orbit
Aditya-L1's journey around the Sun-Earth L1 point requires precise planning and understanding of various forces that could alter its trajectory. By studying these forces, ISRO could accurately plot the spacecraft's path and plan necessary adjustments. Tuesday's manoeuvre successfully used ISRO's advanced flight dynamics software, as illustrated in a chart provided by the agency.
Technical details
The chart shows the orbit around L1, projected in the X-Y plane, with adjustments SK#1, SK#2, and SK#3 made to keep the spacecraft on track. The final adjustment (SK#3) on July 2 ensured it stayed in the correct orbit. Without this adjustment, the spacecraft would have veered off along a different path.
ISRO's statement
"With today's manoeuvre, the state-of-the-art flight dynamics software developed in-house at URSC-ISRO for the Aditya-L1 missions stands fully validated," ISRO stated.
Mission objectives
The Aditya-L1 mission aims to study the Sun's upper atmosphere, focusing on the chromosphere and corona. Its objectives include investigating heating mechanisms, ionised plasma physics, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and flares. The mission is designed to observe the particle and plasma environment, examine solar corona physics, diagnose plasma properties, study the development of CMEs, measure magnetic fields in the corona, and investigate space weather drivers like the solar wind.
